Pretending To Be Normal
by Vlad-the-Impish
Summary: XOver with The Pretender. Jarod discovers more family and a whole new world.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Broots was weaving his way through the corridors of the Centre, trying desperately not to drop the large brown paper package he that was currently holding. As was normally the case, any mail that was for the attention of Miss Parker was actually delivered to him; no one else in The Centre was brave enough to deliver it to her directly. Not that Broots could blame them, as the last three people who had taken mail to her in the past had either been fired or had met with an unfortunate 'accident', making it impossible to continue working there.

For some reason that most at The Centre couldn't quite fathom, Broots was liked, well at least tolerated, by Miss Parker and largely got off easy, and normally able to leave her office with nothing more than an insult to his dress sense and/or his parentage. He finally arrived at the door to her office and somehow managed to knock without dropping the package.

"What is it?" an irritated voice from inside barked out, causing Broots to flinch.

Taking that as the closest thing he'd get to an invitation, Broots opened the door and went inside.

"Morning Ms. Parker," he greeted with a smile, "I have a package for you."

"Well don't waste time talking Broots," she snapped, "give it to me."

Broots carefully schooled his features, as he'd wanted her to say those words to him on more than one occasion, although not for that reason, and a few choice images from his 'night time' collection whizzed through his mind. He knew that if she ever caught on about how he thought about her from time to time, he most probably wouldn't live to tell about it, or if he did he wouldn't be capable of talking at all.

"Here you are," he replied eventually, and placed the package on her desk.

Miss Parker stood up and circled the table to get an all round look at the package, patently ignoring Broots as she did so. She hadn't been expecting anything, which had immediately made her suspicious, especially given who would normally be the one to send her something unannounced, and didn't want to get too close to it just yet.

"Any idea where it came from or who sent it?" she asked the nervous looking man, casting only the most fleeting of looks in his direction before returning her gaze to the mystery object. She already knew who had sent it, but it never hurt to have her theories proven.

Broots had been dreading that very question, as he knew that Miss Parker wouldn't be happy with the answer, although he guessed she already knew who it was from, given that he was the only one who would send her something without he prior knowledge. That's not to say she'd have been all that happy with any other answer he might have given, in fact Broots sometimes thought that she didn't have a happy bone in her body, but this particular person always managed to ride her last nerve without any effort. It didn't help that it was he job to catch him, which meant that every package he sent was a taunt that he was still out there.

"Jarod."

Miss Parker's natural expression of slight annoyance converted into a sneer the instant she heard Jarod's name, as though it were an ingrained response. Of course, given what Jarod had put her through the last time he had sent her anything, Broots wasn't all that surprised she wasn't happy to see anything more from him.

"I wonder what wild goose chase old monkey boy wants to lead me on this week?" she wondered aloud.

Broots, knowing she didn't expect or want an answer, wisely kept silent.

She carefully opened the package, remembering the occasion when she had ripped open a package sent to her by Jarod impatiently and had ended up covered in bright fluorescent green dye; if she had found him that day, or even the following week, Miss Parker would have emptied an entire clip into him before he would have been able to say a word.

Once all the wrapping was removed, Miss Parker could see that the package consisted of a large corkboard with a single black jigsaw piece pinned to the centre. With it was a note, written in Jarod's unmistakable penmanship. She read it aloud.

'Hello Ms. Parker,

I hope you enjoyed your trip through the Canadian wilderness, I know I did. Sorry I couldn't be there to meet you, but I had an urgent appointment that I just couldn't break. More pieces of the puzzle will arrive shortly and the solution will be a revelation.

Speak to you soon.

Jarod.'

"What do you think he means?" Broots asked.

Ms. Parker shook her head at Broots' question, too focused on the latest mystery to snap at him for talking. "I have no idea," she replied absently, as though she were talking to herself more than him, "but when it comes to Jarod, I rarely do. I'll give the note to Sydney when he comes in."

"He's not here yet?"

"He's having to deal with one of his other projects," she said irritably, not liking the fact that the silver-haired psychiatrist was off doing other things when he should be there to help her. "He said it was something to do with the hormonal responses of people when looking at a painting." She handed the note and the wrapping to Broots. "Have these analysed for everything you can think of; I want to know where he is. Make a copy of the note for Sydney so that when he finally graces us with his presence he can start doing his job."

"Right away Ms. Parker." Broots made his way to the door, only to stop when Ms. Parker called out to him. "Yes Ms. Parker?" he asked.

"Change that shirt," she ordered, "not even Liberace would wear something like that."

"Yes Ms. Parker," he said, sighing quietly. He'd hoped he'd get away without being insulted, but he should have known that he had more chance waking up with a full head of hear.

**Sunnydale High School,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Principal Snyder was feeling very pleased with himself as he talked to his newest employee. After the unfortunate death of Ms. Calendar, he had one of the school's brightest students, Willow Rosenberg, acting as a substitute to save money and effort in finding a fully qualified replacement.

The school board had been on his back for months to get a replacement for Ms. Calendar, but he had managed to fob them off by stating that with the budget restraints he was currently under and the Mayor's ever-watchful eye, he'd had trouble finding the right applicant.

He had actually been searching for a replacement, if only to cover his back if anyone were to check for themselves on his progress, and had been pleasantly surprised when his search seemed to have come to an end. The man currently sitting across the desk from him in his office was more than qualified for the job, and had no problems with the less than stellar salary that was on offer. The extensive background check the Mayor required him to perform on all applicants came up clean, and the clincher had come when he had informed the Principal that he was available to start with immediate effect.

The man was currently listening to his usual speech about how the children of the world should bow down and kiss the feet of the teachers who bestow their wisdom upon them, and he was near the end.

"… Should never have to take any backchat from them and you can never give enough detentions. One last thing; if a student has the surname Harris or Summers, expect the worst and have plenty of detention slips handy whenever they're in the room. Well that's about everything, I'll have Ms. Rosenberg show you around. Welcome to Sunnydale Mr. Weisstemplar."

"Please, call me Jarod."


	2. Chapter One

_**Chapter One**_

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Sydney had finally finished with his experiment, the results were unsurprisingly inconclusive, and now he and Broots were in his office, going over the note that Jarod had sent to Miss Parker, along with the jigsaw puzzle piece and corkboard.

Broots' expression clearly showed his befuddlement, but Sydney was his usual professional self, his expression carefully schooled, although whenever dealing with something from Jarod there was always a slight smile that somehow managed to sneak its way onto his lips.

"You got any idea's on what he's up to Sydney?" Broots asked.

Sydney shook his head in the negative but his smile increased slightly. As much as it annoyed and angered the others in The Centre, Jarod's ability to play games with them and win always amused him. The irony that Jarod was using the skills instilled into him on The Centre's orders only made it more interesting in his opinion, especially as he was the one that had taught him.

"Jarod likes to be cryptic when giving clues and this is no exception," he replied eventually, favouring Broots with a small smile, "so I am at a loss as to what he wants us to see. In any case, I doubt that we have enough clues yet to deduce what he wants us to know."

"Knowing Jarod," Broots remarked, "he'll be sending more pieces of the puzzle soon so we might get a better idea then."

Sydney nodded his head in the affirmative and slapped Broots lightly on the back. Although Broots liked to play it down, he had an intuitive mind and was often no more than a step behind Miss Parker and himself in deciphering the clues that Jarod provided them.

"You're right of course Broots, Jarod never does anything without reason and this is no exception. When he wants us to know that reason he will reveal it to us."

Broots snorted in confusion, finding it strange that someone who wanted nothing more than to be left alone by The Centre would keep giving them clues as to his whereabouts.

"I've never worked out why he doesn't just tell us what he wants us to know and get it over with, it would save everyone a lot of time," he stated.

"Sometimes it isn't the destination but the journey that is most important," Sydney replied, and then suddenly changed the subject. "I am surprised that Miss Parker isn't here, do you know where she is?" he asked.

Broots nodded his head, his features showing worry for his friend/crush. "You're right that she would want to be here," he replied, "but Mr. Parker called her into his office a few minutes ago."

"Do you know why?" Sydney enquired, his own concern for the young woman he'd known most of her life clearly visible.

"She wouldn't say, but going from her expression I don't think she knew either."

Sydney could see the concern on Broots features, although he was doing a good job to hide it. He was aware of Broots' infatuation with Miss Parker, and was actually surprised that he hadn't let it slip to the woman in question. Although he was intelligent, Broots did have a history of speaking before thinking. Of course if Broots did let it slip, Sydney doubted that he would ever hear from the man again, as he would probably be the victim of an unfortunate 'accident' that would cut short his career at the Centre.

"I'm sure there isn't anything to worry about Broots," Sydney said to try and reassure his friend and colleague, using his best soothing tone to help calm him down. Sydney indicated towards the items that Jarod had sent, trying to take his companions mind off of Miss Parker. "I was thinking that we might get Angelo to look at these, his insight might give us some indication as to Jarod's motivations."

"I think Mr. Lyle is using him for something," Broots responded, having already assumed that either Sydney or Miss Parker would make such a suggestion and had made discreet enquiries. "I've been trying to find out what Lyle is using him for, but he's keeping it very close to his chest. Not that he's normally chatty about his plans but he's being extra cautious this time. I've taken a quick peek into his computer files once or twice but he's either keeping it on an independent console or he's keeping it off the books completely."

"Which means that it is either something for the Triumvirate or for his own thirst for power," Sydney stated, knowing that Lyle never did anything without there being an ulterior motive. "I am sure that we can… arrange to have Angelo help us for an hour or two."

"Mr. Lyle won't like that," Broots stated with certainty.

"What Mr. Lyle doesn't know can't hurt him," Sydney responded calmly, although a tiny mischievous smile was visible.

"But what he does know can hurt me," Broots added miserably.

**Sunnydale High School,  
Sunnydale, California.**

The bell indicating a PA message brought the History lesson out of their thoughts, with everyone in the classroom turning their attention to the speaker.

"Willow Rosenberg, please report to the Principals office. That is all."

Willow's face paled during the message; she'd only ever been asked to go to the Principal's office once before, when she had accidentally caused an explosion in one of the science labs when she had mistakenly mixed the wrong chemicals together in the wrong proportions. Even then it had been proven not to be her fault, as it had turned out that the new science tech had mislabelled the bottles.

"Eep! What have I done wrong? I have been working extra hard this year to make sure I do everything right, unless I've marked an assignment wrong and I know I went through them with a fine toothcomb and now my teaching career is going to go down the pan and they'll probably expel me and I'll become a no good useless bum walking the streets looking for scraps of food…"

"Willow!" Xander hissed, worried by his friend's propensity to forget breathing when babbling.

Xander was sitting next to her, this being the only class that they didn't have with Buffy, and clicked his fingers right on front of her face a couple of times in hope that he would be able to bring her out of the hysterical state she'd gotten herself in. Thankfully, that managed to bring her out of the meltdown she was heading towards; she took in a huge breath of air and looked at her childhood friend with glazed over eyes.

"Yeah?" she responded, still a thousand miles away in her head, but always able to be reached by her oldest friend.

Their eyes locked in silent communication, something they've developed over the course of their friendship that no one, apart from Jesse, could ever translate. It took a few seconds, but Willow finally began to calm down a little, her eyes more focussed on the real world than before. Xander smiled at her softly, always fascinated how someone so small could go that long without needing to breathe.

"I need you to breathe Will, you know that thing you need to do to live?" he said, half amused and half concerned for her. While he knew she must have exceptional lungpower to be able to perform those babble-fests, he always worried that one day she'd simply pass out from asphyxia. He also wondered just how intelligent Willow would be if she didn't keep killing brain cells due to oxygen depravation.

She smiled and tried to regulate her breathing, and managed to get it under control after a few moments.

"OK, I'm good now. Thanks Xander," she said with a thankful smile.

He smiled widely at her, happy that he could help her out and be appreciated for it.

"Not a problem," he replied sincerely, "you better go see what the troll wants."

She nodded her head and left as fast as her legs could carry her, wanting whatever it was the obnoxious man wanted of her to be over as soon as possible.

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Miss Parker walked into her father's office to find that Lyle and Bridgett were already there. She scowled at them before her father grabbed her in a hug that she readily returned.

"Angel, how are you this morning?" he asked.

Once he released her, Miss Parker smiled and kissed her father on the cheek.

"I'm fine Daddy," she responded, whilst looking disdainfully at the others in the room, "is this an impromptu family gathering?"

"No Angel, we have heard some disheartening news. It seems that the Triumvirate are unhappy with our progress in capturing Jarod so they are sending someone to… assist you in your search."

Miss Parker could read between the lines as well as the next person and knew what her father actually meant.

"You mean they're replacing me?" she asked/stated.

Mr. Parker could see the anger in his daughter's eyes and attempted to try and calm her down as best he could.

"This isn't my doing Angel," he told her placatingly, "but we have to abide by their wishes."

Lyle walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, using more force than was necessary.

"It's not as though you've got the best track record when it comes to catching him, is it sis?" he said with thinly veiled amusement at her imminent demotion.

She grabbed his hand and roughly pulled it away from her shoulder, as having her brother being that close to her made her feel as nauseous as always did.

"Shut up Lyle, you didn't do any better and at least I still have all of my fingers," she snapped venomously.

She looked at his gloved hand where his thumb was missing, caused in part to Jarod's actions but mainly by Lyle's arrogance. Lyle stepped away from her, his eyes darkening briefly as the memories of losing his thumb came to the forefront of his mind, before smiling just as venomously at her in return.

"You go against the Triumvirate and you'll lose a lot more than a thumb," he warned her, more for his father's benefit than for her.

Just as Miss Parker was about to return the barb, Mr. Parker suddenly stood up.

"Enough!" he boomed, his voice echoing throughout the office.

Both of his children shut up immediately and turned to face him, although neither was happy about it. He walked over to his daughter, taking her hands into his own.

"Angel, there isn't anything that can be done to change it, we can't risk antagonising the Triumvirate," he stated forcefully, knowing full well the lengths the Triumvirate would go to in order to keep them in line.

Ms. Parker didn't like the situation she'd suddenly found herself in, but reluctantly nodded in agreement with her father, although it was more to appease him than anything else.

Knowing that was the best he would likely get from his daughter, he turned to his son. "Lyle, we all know how difficult Jarod is to apprehend, he's a Pretender after all. It's safe to say that no one in this room can boast about their success in capturing him."

Lyle also reluctantly nodded his agreement. He hated to admit it but his father was right; they have all had opportunities to bring Jarod in and have as yet never been able to get the job done. He personally believed that it was as much to do with luck, as it was to do with Jarod's planning.

Mr. Parker turned his attention back to his daughter. "Mr. Swallow will be arriving tomorrow and you will afford him every courtesy, do I make myself clear?" he said, his tone telling her all she needed to know.

Miss Parker snorted at his name, unable to bite back a comment.

"I thought birds fly south this time of year."

Her father gave her a warning look, aware of Mr. Swallow's reputation and fearing slightly for his daughter's well-being.

"Angel…" he growled softly.

Knowing that she was fighting a losing battle, Miss Parker put her hands up in defeat.

"Yes Daddy, I'll play nice," she sighed before turning round and leaving her father's office, determined to keep her control of Jarod's capture.

**Sunnydale High School,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Willow walked into the library after showing Mr. Weisstemplar around the campus to find Buffy and Xander sitting at opposite ends of the table, researching the latest demon that had decided to make Sunnydale it's new home, both patently ignoring the other.

For some reason, Snyder hadn't wanted her to show the new teacher the library, which Willow figured was probably a good thing, as she wasn't sure that Giles would have been too receptive to Ms. Calendar's replacement. She also thought that it was a good thing due to the fact that Mr. Weisstemplar had shown himself to be very perceptive during the tour, and she doubted he would have missed that the books that lined the shelves of the library were largely to do with the occult.

Willow had been happy when she got the message to go to the library from Giles; she always enjoyed researching the latest demon, as it was almost always new territory for her, and she thirsted for knowledge like a man lost in the desert. Xander and Buffy were normally less enthusiastic about it; the thrill of getting out of class had lost its charm a long time ago as they only ended up studying anyway, although this type of studying often meant that they could survive another night so they didn't grumble too often.

They had both heard the doors to the library open and looked up at the same time, waving at Willow in unison, an action that stopped suddenly when they noticed what they were doing and they quickly went back to their respective books.

Willow sighed at the exchange and sat down in a chair between the two, grabbing a book from one of the many piles on the table and joining in on the research. She knew that they'd been in the library for a while and desperately wanted to talk to her, but she shushed them with a gesture and her Resolve Face and motioned them to keep researching.

She wanted them to believe that she was as engrossed in her book as she normally would be but she just couldn't focus on it, seeing her two best friends act the way they were acting has sucked all the enthusiasm out of her. Normally if she couldn't concentrate she would talk to one of them, but with the way things were at the moment she considered herself better off not talking to either of them, as she didn't want them to think that she was favouring one friend over the other.

The problem her friends had at the moment was that, where they would normally chat to each other when she wasn't around to pass the time, they probably hadn't said a word to each other, apart from the obligatory hellos, since they arrived. When she had talked to them privately, they both said that they'd gotten past 'The Lie' but they hadn't, not really. All they had done was go from the constant arguing over it to simply not talking to each other at all.

Willow had been doing her best to stay neutral in the whole thing, especially as she could see both sides of the argument, but was having trouble being supportive to both without them thinking she was taking sides.

She had felt betrayed by Xander when she first found out he had lied, thinking that he didn't believe she could perform the curse and that he was jealous of Angel. She had been so enraged by his supposed betrayal that she had been about ready to end their decade long friendship over it, but Oz had somehow worked out what she was going to do and suggested that she listen to his side of the story first, as it had been Buffy that had done all the talking up to that point.

She then had to wait until the next day for Xander to do just that, as they found out that the reason he hadn't been talking was that Buffy had slapped him and dislocated his jaw. She felt guilty now that they hadn't noticed how much pain he had been in, but at the time she was overwhelmed with anger to notice much of anything.

He began by saying that he was sorry that Willow felt betrayed by him, but he had to look at the bigger picture. She had never cast a spell successfully before that day, she had just come out of a coma and was performing the spell in her hospital bed as the doctor's didn't think she was well enough to leave, and she was attempting to perform a curse that had been translated from a lost language with no verification that it had been translated correctly, as the only people who could have possibly verified it were dead, killed by the very vampire they were trying to curse.

The chances of it working were slim at best, but even with all of that against her, he still had every intention of telling Buffy what Willow was trying until he had seen the look in her eyes.

He could tell by looking at her that she was finally ready to go all out against Angelus, and knew if he told her she would hold back, hoping the curse would work in time. He realised that Angelus would no longer be playing games with his master plan in the balance, so he would use her hesitation to his advantage and win, either by outright killing her or by buying enough time to release Acathla.

He'd had to choose between lying to one of his closest friends and risking the lives of six billion strangers and the strangers won, but only just. He added that although he couldn't say he had never been jealous of Angel, he could never willingly cause someone's death for such a petty and selfish reason.

Willow had never thought about it before, but if Angelus had won, the world would have been sucked through Acathla's portal and humanity would have been relegated to the bottom of the food chain.

It was at that point that she started to get angry at Buffy, after all it was her duty to kill vampires and she had put off killing Angelus and his family time and time again, costing Ms. Calendar, Teresa, Kendra and many other people their lives because of it.

What had surprised Willow then was that Xander had actually defended Buffy, to an extent, saying that he could understand why she'd had trouble killing Angelus before, as he had the face for the man she loved, Angel. He agreed that she waited far too long to do her job, Angelus' killing of Ms. Calendar should have been more than enough in his opinion, but he did realise how difficult it had to have been for her emotionally, reminding Willow that even though Buffy was the Slayer, she was also a seventeen-year old girl with literally the weight of the world on her shoulders. He then asked Willow if she would be able to kill Oz if he ever escaped and killed someone during his werewolf phase, and she'd had to admit that she didn't know and hoped to never find out.

* * *

Xander took a quick peek at Willow and Buffy and could tell that they were just pretending to be reading, but couldn't really blame them as he was also thinking of things other than the book in front of him. Not only was he unhappy that his friendship with Buffy was on the rocks, admittedly largely his own doing, but his relationship with Cordelia was even worse, in fact he knew that a car wreck would be more salvageable.

Cordelia was the only one in the group that had actively shown no problem with the fact he had lied to Buffy that night, simply stating that she was still alive and that was more important to her. What she did have a problem with was that he still defended Buffy's actions, although only to a point, during the whole Angelus saga. She saw it as further proof that he was still in love with 'his precious Buffy' and that she was his second choice.

He knew immediately that his inability to deny it when she accused him was the death nail of their relationship, and also knew what was going to happen next. She had told him that Cordelia Chase was nobody's second choice and broke up with him that instant, leaving the group and rejoining Harmony and the other sheep.

Xander had been surprised, but privately pleased, about her treatment towards him and the others since their split. She had been almost civil to him and the other Scooby's whenever their paths crossed, which he'd found odd as he'd been expecting her Queen C persona to return with a vengeance, but apart from the usual comments that she would have said whether they were together or not, she'd pretty much left them alone. He guessed that it was her way of saying that she didn't hold a grudge; she'd never allow herself to say the words so she did it with her actions.

He really couldn't blame her for the way things happened, as she had been right that she wasn't first in his heart. He really did care for her a great deal, which given time could have easily progressed to love, but he'd still had strong feelings for the blonde Slayer.

It was for that reason that he had felt so bad when she had called him on his feelings for Buffy, as he wanted to give Cordelia what she needed and deserved of him, but the problem was that the position had already been filled a couple of years ago. Buffy had been the majority owner of his heart since the first moment he saw her, and he couldn't see that situation changing any time soon, even with the way things were at the moment.

That was what made lying to Buffy all the more difficult for him; he knew what would probably happen if she ever found or worked it out, meaning that it would ruin any chance he ever had with her, if he ever had a chance to begin with at all. There was a part of him that had always wanted Angel out of the way, as he knew that Buffy only had eyes for the ensouled vampire and no one stood a chance with him in the picture, but he never thought that killing him was a way to do it, it just wasn't the type of person he was.

In those few seconds he had to decide whether to tell Buffy about Willow performing the curse, he couldn't deny that there had been a tiny voice in his head telling him that if he lied to her Angel would be out of the way, but he knew with every fibre in his being that it had played no part in his decision.

He had felt responsible for Buffy running away like she did after killing Angelus, thinking that if he had told her the truth she might have stayed, so to redeem himself he had started to patrol in her place. He initially patrolled alone, but when the others found out it hadn't been long before Willow, Oz and even Cordelia began helping out. They actually became quite efficient at dusting vamps, as his knowledge of military procedures and tactics came in very handy, and it helped that they seemed to be in a summer lull period.

He had also made it his mission to be there for Joyce as much as was possible, as he knew that whatever he was feeling paled in comparison to the maelstrom of emotions that she must have been going through since her daughter ran away. He would do little jobs around the house for her and would always stay for dinner whenever she offered, doing whatever he could to keep her spirits up.

When Buffy had returned he couldn't help the face-splitting grin that appeared on his face, until she had slapped him so hard that she had dislocated his jaw and knocked him out. The next couple of hours were among the worst of his life, as due to his inability to speak Buffy had free reign to give her version of events and her perceived reasons for it. There had been a lot of shouting involved, most of it directed at him, until Cordelia and surprisingly enough Joyce had pointed out how much pain he must have been in, and the others had reluctantly taken him to the hospital to get his jaw relocated.

Once he had been able to speak, he first admitted that he had lied and then before they could start shouting at him again explained the reasons for it. He was relieved that after explaining everything as he saw it at the time they had at least understood his reasons, apart from Buffy of course, but he knew their trust and faith in him had been damaged. Despite all of that, if he had to do it all over again he would have made the exact same decision.

While the others had since put everything behind them, Buffy was still keeping him at arms length and there are still moments when it looked as though she was physically holding herself back from hitting him again. He hoped that he would be able to repair the damage his actions had caused, but until she allowed him close enough to try nothing would happen.

* * *

Buffy could feel Xander watching her every now and again and would like nothing more than to just go over and talk to him like she used to, but she stopped herself from doing so every time.

She was barely keeping it together; the events of the last few years had brought her to breaking point and she didn't know how much more she could take before the last vestiges of her sanity were worn away. The thing she was having the hardest time to deal with was the fact that she'd had to kill Angel to seal the portal; not the soulless bastard that had been Angelus, but the man she had loved. Having to admit that she killed her boyfriend to the others when she came back from her self imposed exile was the hardest thing she had ever had to do.

That was the main reason she was so angry with Xander about lying to her; during her 'sabbatical' in LA, she had wondered how his soul had been returned and worked out that Willow must have performed the curse. It didn't take a genius to work out Xander must have known about it, but instead of telling her the truth, he had said that Willow told her to 'kick his ass'.

She knew that if the curse hadn't worked she would have understood, but not agreed with, his decision to lie to her. The problem was that it had worked, and she'd had to look into the eyes of the man she loved before plunging the sword through his chest, sending him to hell.

Her head knew that Xander was thinking of the bigger picture, namely the fate of the world, and she also knew that it wouldn't have made much of a difference either way as the portal had already began to open when his soul had returned, meaning that she would have had to have killed him whether she had known or not, but her heart was telling her that Xander had always been jealous of Angel and wanted him out of the way so he had a chance to be with her. She wanted to believe that Xander wasn't like that, that he couldn't do something so heartless and evil as lie just to get Angel out of the way, but there was this doubt in her mind that was driving her crazy.

It didn't help that during those last few weeks, her feelings for him had started to go beyond the friendly or brotherly ones she normally associated with him.

She had realised that his feelings for her still remained during the love spell fiasco, and had been surprised that they were more than just the crush she had originally figured them to be. She had also been surprised at the amount of willpower he had shown in the library; she had offered herself to him on a silver platter wearing nothing but a raincoat and he had somehow managed to resist her advances, knowing that as she wasn't in control of her actions it would be wrong. It was then that she had begun to see him differently; it wasn't his finest moment to be sure, but it had removed the mental blocks that had stopped her from seeing Xander as anything other than 'one of the girls'.

Then there was the time she was in hospital with the flu. She had been woken up by the sound of Xander and Angelus' conversation and had been amazed by Xander's bravery, standing up to the master vampire with nothing but guts and the need to protect her. She was even more amazed when Angelus had actually backed down; the thought that Xander intimidated one of the most vicious vampires in history was surreal to say the least.

The closest she had come to acting on her new feelings was after he had saved her from Teresa; she couldn't think of a time that she had ever felt so safe as she had done in his arms. When she had looked up into his chocolate brown eyes she had almost kissed him, overwhelmed by the concern and affection she had seen there. Then the moment had gone and she returned to the real world where Xander was going out with Cordelia and she still had her own relationship problems.

Everything was such a muddle in her head, so much so that one moment she wanted to hug him and get everything back to normal and the next she wanted to beat him senseless and tell him she never wanted to see him again. Every time she thought of cutting him out of her life, the empty feeling the thought produces was almost unbearable.

That was why she'd been so distant from him, as until she worked everything out in her head, she didn't want to run the risk of hurting him, as he was still a very important part of her life, regardless of the situation.

* * *

Nearly an hour had passed since Willow's arrival and they had yet to speak, the only sounds were of their rhythmic breathing. The silence was becoming unbearable; they all wanted to talk but no one knew how to start. Eventually the silence became too much for Xander and he felt compelled to start up a conversation.

"So Wills, what did Quark want with you?" he asked, deciding that it was probably the safest topic available apart from the weather.

Buffy forgot herself for a moment as she laughed at Xander's jibe at Snyder until she saw him looking at her with a hint of hope in his eyes and she turned away from his gaze. His face fell in disappointment for a moment before he plastered his best fake Xander-grin™ and waited for Willow to return from whatever planet she was on.

"Huh?" she responded distractedly, lost in her own thoughts.

She turned to look at Xander in confusion for a moment before rerunning his question in her head. "Oh, they've finally hired a new computer teacher and they wanted me to take him on a tour of the school, like a handing over the baton type thing I guess."

Willow was trying to sound nonchalant about it but Xander knew her well enough to realise she was feeling down about the whole thing; when she had been asked to take over Ms. Calendars class, her smile had become brighter than the sun. She had felt guilty at her response almost immediately when she thought about Giles, but her smile returned when he had smiled and said he couldn't think of a better person for the job. Switching to comfort mode, Xander got up and knelt beside her, trying to show as much support as he could.

"You know it has nothing to do with you don't you? They've been after Snyder to get someone in to replace Ms. Calendar since the beginning."

Her shoulders sagged slightly as he asked the question, thinking that he would know exactly what she had on her mind, but at the same time thankful that she had a friend that knew her so well.

"I know that, but it just feels like they don't want me," she muttered sadly, Xander only just able to hear her.

She felt comforted as Xander put his arm around her shoulders, and she no longer bothered to hide her sadness and looked down at her hands. Buffy had by now moved her chair closer to hers and had put her hand on Willow's forearm, trying to be supportive to her whilst keeping her distance from Xander. Willow felt Xander's hand gently cup her chin and turn her to face him, his face stern but caring.

"You know as well as I do that if they could have, they would have hired you in an instant. Don't ever think that you're not wanted Willow, I'll always want you as my friend." He kissed her on the top of the head. "You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

"Aww Xander."

She hugged him briefly before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning round she saw Buffy smiling warmly at her.

"The same goes for me too Will."

Willow hugged Buffy briefly as well, not only because she wants to but also because she wanted ensure they didn't think she was playing favourites. She was going to comment on how this was probably the first time Buffy and Xander had agreed on something since the row but wisely decided not to, knowing how it would end. Xander stood up and moved his chair so he was closer to her as well before sitting down, Willow mentally sighing in relief as Buffy didn't comment or make an attempt to move herself away.

"So tell us about the new teacher," Buffy said, trying to change the subject.

She turned to Buffy, smiling reluctantly as she really wanted to dislike her replacement but couldn't.

"He's a very nice man," she responded, "he complimented me on the work I had done with the class. He probably noticed my mood and tried to make me feel better."

Buffy nodded and smiled slightly. "That's good, it shows he cares. And his name is?"

"Oh yeah, Mr. Weisstemplar."

Xander flinched at the name, generating bad memories to surface in his mind.

"I thought about commenting on how strange it was," she continued, "but I don't really have a leg to stand on with that. He said I could call him Jarod as we were technically colleagues, which felt nice as that was how he thought of me, but it didn't feel right so I declined."

Willow didn't notice Xander tense again when he heard the teacher's first name, but Buffy did. She considered asking him about it but decided against it, as she still didn't feel comfortable talking to him yet.

Xander didn't like the sound of things so he tried to find out where the new teacher was.

"Is he still here in school?" he asked, causing Willow to shake her head.

"No, after I showed him around he left, saying he still had some unpacking to do at his new apartment."

Again Willow was oblivious to Xander's tone when he asked the question, but Buffy could tell that something was bugging him, and made a mental note to check out the new teacher herself. She may not want to talk to Xander at the moment, but his ability to sense when things weren't kosher was nearly as good as her own.

Giles suddenly came out of his office, cleaning his glasses. When he spotted Willow he put his glasses back on and smiled at her.

"Ah Willow; just the person I wanted to see."

"How can I help?" she asked, always willing to please.

"There's something I'd like you to check for me on that infernal machine," Giles responded, indicating towards the computer.

The three teens got amused smiles on their faces at Giles' incurable case of techno phobia.

"You mean the computer?" she asked, a hint of teasing in her voice that Giles either ignored or missed.

"That's what I said, I believe that there is a mystical convergence happening in the next couple of days but I cannot for the life of me remember what book I saw it in. I still need to research the demon that Buffy spotted last night and can't divert my attention, so I was hoping that you might be able to find out more about it on the mesh."

Willow looked puzzled for a minute before the thesaurus part of her brain filled her in on what Giles meant.

"You mean the Net," she stated.

"That's what I said," Giles replied in a frustrated sigh.

Willow laughed slightly at Giles' expense before nodding her head in agreement. "Sure, I'll see what I can find."

Willow got up and went over to the computer and turned it on before getting herself a drink as she waited for it to boot up.

Xander realised that Giles would need to be told about the new teacher, and decided to be the one to tell him, saving the others from having to do it. He got up from his seat and went over to the Watcher, making sure he spoke softly so that only Giles could hear him.

"Um, Giles?" he began hesitantly.

Giles was looking through the index cards as Xander spoke and didn't look up when he responded, his attention more on the task at hand than the young man beside him.

"Yes Xander?"

Xander took a deep breath to calm him down and steel his resolve, knowing that Giles wouldn't like what he had to tell him.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but I thought that you should know. They've just hired a new computer teacher."

Giles stopped flicking through the cards and turned to look at Xander at last, a pained expression on his face as the words sank in. He knew that there would come a day when they would find a replacement for Jenny, but he had hoped that it wouldn't happen until after Buffy and the others had graduated; he had every intention of resigning his position as Librarian once his charge left High School, as the only reason he took the job in the first place was so he had a legitimate reason to be around her during the day.

Although he hadn't known her long, he had cared deeply for Jenny Calendar and he still hasn't fully grieved over her death. He had been glad when they had asked Willow to take over the class as he had felt it apt that it was Jenny's favourite pupil that took over her duties as teacher. Now there was a stranger taking over and that chapter in his life was now truly over.

"T-thank you for letting me know," he managed to say, his usual calm demeanour slipping slightly.

Xander nodded once, gripping Giles' shoulder for a moment before going back to the table. When he sat down Buffy gave him a small smile and mouthed 'thank you' to him, obviously aware what he had done. He gave her a small smile in return, seeing it as a step in the right direction, before remembering that he wanted to check something out made a point of looking at his watch.

"Look guys, I just remembered that I need to be somewhere now so I have to go. I'll call Giles later to see if you need any more help with the oh so exhilarating research, if he doesn't I'll see you all tomorrow."

Before waiting for a response, Xander grabbed his bag and coat before walking briskly out of the library. Willow watched him go with a puzzled look.

"School doesn't end for another couple of hours, where would he need to go?" she asked.

Buffy shrugs but didn't comment, silently worried about what would make Xander act so strangely and making a point to find out, her inability to trust his motivations influencing her slightly.

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Ms. Parker walked into Sydney's office, having to spend some time calming down from finding out that she was no longer trusted to find Jarod, only to find Sydney and Broots attempting to calm Angelo down, who was rocking back and forth with a vacant expression on his face whilst repeating two words over and over again like some sort of mantra.

"Family, Finality. Family, Finality. Family, Finality. Family, Finality."

She looked over to Sydney with a slightly concerned expression on her face. While she didn't really care too much about him, she had known Angelo almost all her life and didn't remember ever seeing him act quite so strangely.

"How long as he been like this?" she asked.

"Ever since he touched the puzzle piece Jarod sent us," Sydney replied, his concern apparent in his voice, "he hasn't said anything else, it's as though he's on a loop of some sort."

She went over to Angelo and managed to take the puzzle piece away from him, as he had always been more receptive to her than most people for some reason. The result was almost immediate; he stopped chanting and his normal happy expression returned.

"Any idea what he was on about?"

"Well 'Family' is self explanatory; Jarod has been searching for his family ever since he first escaped and my guess is that Jarod is close to doing that, either in part of in full. As for 'Finality', that could mean the end of Jarod's search or the end of ours or one of a hundred different possibilities."

"Well we need to work out every one of those possibilities, because if Jarod does finish searching he'll go under the radar and we'll never find him. We have enough problems as it is."

"What's wrong Ms. Parker?" Broots asked.

"The Triumvirate are sending someone to help us in our search for Jarod," she responded, "basically that means they're taking over. Have either of you ever heard of a Mr. Swallow?"

Broots' face paled and he gasped when he heard whom they're sending, causing both Sydney and Ms. Parker to look at him strangely.

"They're sending Brian?" he asked in a whisper. Broots began pacing frantically, managing to look both deathly pale and unbearably hot at the same time. "This is not good, Brian will not tolerate the games that Jarod likes to play, he'll only have to be caught up in one of Jarod's practical jokes and he'll adopt a scorched earth policy towards him and anyone that gets in his way, including us."

"How do you know someone like Mr. Swallow?" Sydney asked, worried about his friend's extreme response.

He audibly gulped and glanced at both of them before responding.

"He's my brother."

**Abandoned Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

A small area of light in the far left corner broke the gloom of the warehouse, caused by an overhead lamp and the glow of a computer screen, Xander visible sitting at the desk on a plush leather office chair. Xander looked completely comfortable using the computer in front of him, his fingers moving across the wireless keyboard like a pro.

If anyone came in that knew him, they would think that they'd entered the Twilight Zone, the thought of Xander being so efficient on a computer would be alien to them. Of course that was exactly what Xander would want them to think, as he had played the part of the lovable clown for the majority of his life. After a few more keystrokes he smiled in satisfaction as the background information he had been searching for concerning one Jarod Weisstemplar popped up on screen.

As soon as he heard the new teacher's surname, which basically meant 'White Knight', he thought that either the Hellmouth was trying to mock him or that someone was trying to give him a message. The second option gave him cause for concern, as the last time he had been there he hadn't noticed any CCTV cameras in the hospital, and apart from him there were only two other people that could possibly know what that phrase meant to him.

On initial inspection, everything about the new teacher looked normal and Xander sighed in frustration. He began to wonder whether he was finally allowing his paranoia to get the best of him, but reminded himself that it wasn't paranoia if there were actually people after you. He immediately started digging deeper into Mr. Weisstemplar, having learned at an early age to never take things at face value.

He began cross-referencing the man in question's career and education history with the appropriate school and college mainframes, specifically looking for class photos that correspond with the period in which he supposedly worked or studied. What he quickly found was that although the written records stated that Jarod worked/attended where he said he did, he wasn't in one single class or faculty photo or yearbook, which meant that he either managed to miss every photo session for the past couple of decades or that the records had been doctored. Now Xander had to figure out what he was in Sunnydale for and how to deal with it.

As he began finding out where the new teacher lived so he can have a 'chat' with him, Xander reminisced about how he found this place. As far as most people were concerned, the warehouse had been abandoned for years and that was how Xander wanted it. Of course if any vamps tried to use it as their base of operations they'd find that they couldn't enter as the property was in his name, which meant that without his consent they were all out of luck.

He had found the place the night after the Harvest; he had basically been walking aimlessly through the streets of Sunnydale, trying to get over the loss of his closest male friend Jesse, having dusted the demon that took his face. It had been an accident, his staking Jesse, as someone had bumped into him while he had been trying to convince Xander how good being a vampire was and he had fallen onto the stake Xander had been was holding. The guilt of killing someone that was his brother in all but blood was overwhelming, and all Xander wanted was for the pain to stop and he figured it would be fitting to have another vampire assist him.

He didn't see a single vampire that night, but he did find the warehouse. Two weeks later he had arranged to have the deeds to the building put in his name and it's practically become his home. The only times he ever slept at his 'parent's' house since procuring the warehouse was whenever Buffy would insist on walking him home after a patrol, which hadn't happened for almost six months.

The address for Jarod appeared on screen and he winced slightly, thinking that nothing ever came easy for him. It seemed that Mr. Weisstemplar, although Xander knew that wasn't his real name, was living in the same apartment complex as the only man Xander has ever truly respected, one Rupert 'Ripper' Giles. Not only will it mean that he had to be extra careful when he arranged the rendezvous, it meant that Giles was going to be less than comfortable that the man brought in to replace his lost love was now his neighbour.

Of course he might not live long enough to speak with him as the silent alarm he installed was tripped. He didn't bother to even turn to face the trespasser, knowing that there was really only one person it could be.

"Hey Buff."

**Bus Station,  
Sunnydale, California.**

The bus stopped at the station, the driver only waiting long enough for the one and only passenger to disembark before speeding away, probably well aware of the dangers that staying around longer than necessary would bring. The passenger watched the bus leave, wrapping the short denim jacket they were wearing around themselves tightly as a gust of wind hit them, which sent a chill down their spine as it seemed to go right through them. They began walking, not really sure of their destination, but knowing that they needed to find somewhere to stay tonight, as well as a way of paying for it.

As they walked past one of the many nondescript buildings, two figures suddenly appeared out of the alley, the only things visible being their glowing yellow eyes. They stalked toward the newcomer and attempted to grab them, seeing them as easy prey, but they soon find that they were mistaken in that assumption. In a blur of motion they savagely attacked their two would be assailants, the sounds of breaking bones resonating through the desolate street.

In a matter of moments their 'attackers' were writhing around on the ground in agony as they rifled through their pockets, looking for anything they believed could be of use to them. After their search resulted in some jewellery and a couple hundred bucks, they pulls out a stake from their inside jacket pocket and killed the two vampires, kicking the dust piles that remained and watched as they swirled about in the air. They returned their stake to their jacket and smiled slightly.

"Well Faith," she said to herself as she resumed her walk, "it looks like you've found the right place, now all you need to do is find the right person."


	3. Chapter Two

_**Chapter Two**_

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Sydney and Miss Parker were looking at Broots like he'd just told them that they were nothing but characters in some nutjob's story.

"Why did you never tell us you have a brother, especially one that worked for the Triumvirate?" Miss Parker asked.

Broots' first impulse to Miss Parker's question was to say that she never showed the slightest interest in finding out, but as he knew that giving that particular answer would result in copious amounts of pain, he allowed himself a couple of moments before giving a less dangerous, but equally truthful, answer.

"Because I have tried to forget that I have a brother," he replied. "The last time I saw him I tried to run him down with my car and the time before that he put me in a six-week coma. It's fair to say that we don't exactly like each other. As far as his working for the Triumvirate is concerned, I'm afraid that I was under orders not to."

Miss Parker wasn't happy about his second answer but could understand it, although she would be making Broots' life a living hell for a couple of weeks to compensate. Both Miss Parker and Sydney were startled by the anger that was prevalent in Broots' voice, as neither thought that he was capable of expressing anger in any way, 'doormat' would be the best way to describe him.

The other thing that was unsettling was that he'd just admitted that both brothers had tried to kill the other, something else they never thought Broots would be capable of. Miss Parker didn't really see a problem with it, given her desire to see her own brother rot in Hell for eternity, but Sydney can.

"Are you going to be OK working with him?" Sydney queried.

A hollow laugh escaped Broots' lips, clearly showing what he thought of that question.

"No, but that's probably the reason he asked to be assigned here," Broots replied.

Sydney found that comment strange, rarely knowing of someone who requested to be assigned to The Centre. "What makes you think he wasn't assigned?" he pondered.

"Because sending Brian to capture Jarod is like using a bulldozer to bang in a nail," Broots answered bluntly. "He'll no doubt get the job done, but he'll probably bring Jarod back in a body bag and not without a lot of collateral damage. I'm surprised that they agreed, they must owe him for something."

The thought that the Triumvirate could owe anyone anything was not sitting well with Miss Parker, especially as that someone was horning in on her territory. Sydney could almost see the hatred Broots had for his brother, and knowing that there was nothing they could do to prevent Mr. Swallow from joining their little band, he decided to see if there was anything he could do to minimise the conflict that was unavoidably going to occur.

"Why do you two hate each other so much?" Sydney queried.

Broots thought about his answer for a moment, having never really spent too much time thinking about it before.

"If I have to be honest I didn't really hate him until he put me in the coma, but he's hated me from the day I was born, probably even before that," he replied. "He's actually my half-brother from my dad's first marriage, and he blames me for his parents getting a divorce. Dad was seeing my mom behind his first wife's back; he had planned on going back to his wife and not seeing her again, that was until he found out she was pregnant with me. He left his wife and moved in with mom, two weeks after their divorce was finalised they were married. Brian hates me with a passion and he's only ever agreed with me on one thing."

Sydney sensed that this could be an opportunity to find something to use to their advantage, as common ground between the two brothers could lead to a truce, although only a temporary one.

"What was that?" Sydney asked.

"Debbie," Broots answered. "Dad made him come and see her when she was born and he fell in love with her the moment he saw her. That day was the only time we ever had a semi-civilised conversation; he promised me that although he wouldn't piss on me if I were on fire, he would never allow anyone to harm a hair on her head. I hate to say this but when I saw the look in his eyes I knew that, if anything happened to me, there wasn't anyone Debbie would be safer with, apart from you Miss Parker."

Broots' mind caught up with his mouth a moment too late and he had to turn away from Miss Parker so she couldn't see the embarrassment his words caused within him. Debbie had gone on to Broots about Miss Parker since the first time she had met her, when Miss Parker reluctantly babysat for him. Whether she liked to admit it or not, Broots knew that Miss Parker liked Debbie and would protect her if anything happened to him.

Miss Parker was shocked that Broots thought so highly of her; she knew how much he loved his daughter, and for him to say he would trust her with Debbie's welfare was more than a little overwhelming. She had found herself liking the girl when she had met her, and the thought of anything happening to her didn't bring a nice feeling. She managed to put those thoughts aside for the moment and assumed an air of nonchalance towards his comment, his brother's imminent arrival being the more important topic at the moment.

"This is all well and good, but that doesn't tell me anything about how to deal with him," she stated.

Broots turned back to face her, an apologetic look on his face, knowing she wouldn't like his answer.

"I'm afraid that there isn't a way that you can, at least not in the way you would like," Broots said.

"What do you mean how I would like?" she growled.

He instantly realised that she'd taken his comment to mean something else and immediately moved into damage limitation.

"What I mean is that I know you don't like the thought of someone being brought in to take over the search for Jarod, and you're looking for dirt on Brian you can use to keep control," he responded, back peddling furiously. "The problem is that there isn't any dirt you can use."

Miss Parker couldn't believe that Broots was unable to think of anything she could use against the person that put him in a coma.

"There has to be something!" she demanded forcefully.

"Don't get me wrong," Broots replied, trying unsuccessfully to keep his voice from showing his fear, "he's done a lot of shady things in his life and if he worked for any other organization in the world you would have him over a barrel, but there isn't one thing Brian has done that the Triumvirate doesn't know about and/or sanctioned. The only reason I know that is because he likes to phone me and describe the things he's done for the Triumvirate, saying that he could do anything to me without consequences. I know he won't for Debbie's sake, but that doesn't stop me from needing to change my underwear after every conversation."

Miss Parker was really starting to get annoyed, not liking that fact that there didn't seem to be a single solitary thing she could do to stay in charge of Jarod's capture.

What Broots said next made her feel worse. "In fact, as long as he gets Jarod one way or another, the Triumvirate would have no problem with him putting a bullet in all of us if felt it was warranted."

Broots' warning about his brother left Ms. Parker and Sydney silent.

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

When Xander turned around he saw Buffy unleashing her most potent glare at him. She had followed him from his parents house to here, wanting to know what had caused him to be so agitated by the identity of the new teacher, never thinking she would follow him to this warehouse and watch as he operated the computer better than Willow ever has. The thought that he'd been keeping more things from her caused the anger she had been feeling towards him to burn hotter than magma.

"You better have a damn good reason for me not to throw you through the nearest wall Xander, and you better talk fast as I might not be able to hold back," Buffy stated.

"If you insist," he said calmly. Taking a deep breath, he began to talk. "My name is Alexander Lavelle Harris and I go to Sunnydale High School although most people don't see why I bother as I normally sleep through most lessons but eh reason I really go is because I have two friends called Buffy and Willow who I would protect with my dying breath without a second thought…"

Buffy cut him off with a wave of her hand as she struggled to contain her laughter at his Oscar worthy impression of Willow-Babble™. She didn't know how he did it but, no matter what the situation and no matter how angry she felt towards him, he always managed to make her smile.

"Can you pretend to be a normal person for just one minute!" she asked between bouts of laughter.

He smiled at her expression; he'd never seen a more beautiful sight than a smiling Buffy Anne Summers. Then her words registered in his mind and his expression suddenly changed to one of complete seriousness, something that caught Buffy off guard.

"That's what I've been doing all my life, pretending that is, so I can't just stop at the drop of a hat," he stated.

His statement confused Buffy totally, she'd never been good with people being all cryptic with her, it was actually one of the things that annoyed her about Angel; he was never able to just come out and say what it was he wanted her to know. The sadness in Xander's voice also confused her, as it wasn't something she had ever heard from him before. It sounded so raw that she could literally see it coming out of every pore of his body. Her anger at his continued deceit pushed any other feelings aside however.

"You really need to explain yourself here Xander as I am having an extremely hard time stopping myself from beating you senseless," she stated forcefully.

He forgot his earlier feelings of pain and allowed a small smirk to appear on his face; Buffy's short fuse, combined with her 'hit first, ask questions later' attitude, made being evasive a highly precarious tactic to use against her. Of course that's never stopped him before so…

"For someone so beautiful you really do have an anger management problem don't you?" he asked rhetorically.

Buffy managed to flush with both embarrassment and anger, anger because of his continued evasiveness and embarrassment because she could feel the sincerity in his words; he truly thought she was beautiful. Before she could reply to his question, he continued.

"What you want to know isn't something that can be quickly or easily explained, no matter how much you would like it to be," he informed her, knowing that wasn't what she wanted to hear but having no other way of saying it. "Something that I can come right out and tell you is that our new teacher is a phoney."

This didn't exactly throw her for a loop, as from the moment she had seen Xander's expression when he heard the teacher's name, she had known something was up, she just didn't know what it was. Forgetting for a moment that she was angry with him, she changed her stance to a more natural one and a curious expression appeared on her face.

"How do you know?" she asked.

He indicated to his computer, which in Buffy's mind still seemed uber-strange that Xander knew how to use it so proficiently.

"I checked his records and found that his job history doesn't hold up to my level of scrutiny, and believe me when I tell you that my level of scrutiny is very high," he responded with a slight grin, one he was disappointed to see wasn't reciprocated. "His paper trail fits his résumé but there are no pictures or other record to prove he worked or attended the schools or colleges he claimed he did."

Buffy couldn't think of a reason why he would lie about the new teacher being a fraud, apart from the obvious one of delaying telling her what she wants to know, so she simply nodded her acceptance of his words. She did wonder how he knew how to check in the first place, but that was just one of a thousand different questions that she wants to ask him.

"What are you keeping from me?" she asked, although her tone indicated it was more of a demand.

He gave her his best lop-sided grin before responding, and she found it hard not to smile herself in response.

"OK, you've got me, I was the second gunman on the grassy null," he told her.

She shook her head, partly in frustration that he was evading the question, and partly because he was having such an effect on her. Here she was trying to stay angry with him and there he was acting so damn adorable. It just wasn't fair.

"Knock it off Xander, you humour won't get you out of trouble this time," she stated, trying to keep any warmth out of her voice in hopes of scaring him into responding more truthfully.

"And here I was thinking that humour was the ultimate defence against a ladies ire," he commented with a smile, but he sobered up when he sees the look she was giving him.

Knowing her as well as he did, he was more than aware that she was currently switching to Slayer-mode and wouldn't take his evasive tactics any longer.

"As I said before," he replied, "the explanation is a long one and I'd rather not have to repeat it, so I suggest that you call the others and let them know you're arranging to have another 'rip Xander a new asshole' session."

She flinched slightly at the bitterness that he was unable to mask in his voice, aware of how much it must have hurt to have everyone against him, but she stood firm and tried not to show it.

"It would probably be best to have it here," he continued, "it's the most secure place in Sunnydale and with the way my luck has been running lately I doubt I'd make it past the front door without some bloodsucker trying to make me an entrée." He looked down for a moment before returning his gaze to her, "I'm guessing that you don't want me out of your sight?" he asked/stated.

"You've got that right," she responded, a hard edge to her soft voice.

He sighed in defeat; he knew that their faith in him was at an all-time low but the way she was treating him now hurt more than he expected. Of course, given the circumstances, he couldn't really blame her, as he had lied to her even if it was for the right reason, but that didn't change how he felt. The fact that she'd found him here hadn't helped in that regard either. He span round in his chair a couple of times, giving himself a moment to reign in his emotions, before pointing to the phone on the desk.

"The phone is over there, feel free to use it."

He wasn't watching her, but he could feel her move towards the desk and pick up the receiver. As she was about to start dialling the number to the library manually, she noticed that he has a speed-dial section on the phone and Giles was third on the list. What surprised her was that instead of seeing Willow's number at the top of the list, she saw hers instead with Willow's in second. She tried not to think of the significance of that as she pressed the button for Giles' number and waited for him to answer.

"Good evening, Rupert Giles speaking."

"Hi Giles," she greeted her Watcher warmly, but unable to remove all of her anger towards Xander out of her voice.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" he asked, catching the tone in her voice immediately.

"Can't I just ring to say hi?" she queried mock seriously.

"Not based on previous experience, no," he responded, not realising that she had been joking.

A flash of guilt flowed through her at the matter of fact way he had answered, making her think that she may well take Giles too much for granted. She had stopped thinking of Giles as nothing more than just her Watcher a long time ago, but realised that she hadn't really told him that. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, knowing now was not the time to be analysing that train of thought, although she did make a mental note to rectify that situation sooner rather than later.

"Is there anything wrong Buffy?" Giles asked again, worried about her prolonged silence.

"I need you and Willow to come over to a warehouse with the sign Zenith Textiles out front," she responded eventually. "I forgot to check the address, but you should be able to find it easy enough."

Xander had been listening in on the conversation and considered letting her know what the address was, but figured if she wanted to know she'd ask. He then remembered how he'd been answering her other questions and guessed she didn't want to waste any more time.

"Why, is there a problem?" he asked.

"Xander's been holding out on us again," she stated.

She could hear Giles putting his hand over the receiver, probably to talk with Willow. After a few moments he removed his hand.

"We'll be there in an hour," he informed his charge.

Buffy's face wrinkled in confusion; Giles and Willow weren't more than half an hour away, even if they took his car, so she had no idea why it would take so long.

"Why so long?" she asked.

Hearing his sigh, she could almost see him pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I need to calm Willow down before we leave," he responded tiredly, "otherwise we may have to find out what Xander has been keeping from us from a toad."

**Road to Hell Motel,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Faith walked in to the reception area, trying to work out how to get a reduction on the rate of a room without having to do something she'd regret. The money she took from the vamps, combined with the meagre amount she had left after paying for the coach fare, wouldn't last long and she had no idea how long she'd have to be here.

As she moved closer to the desk, she was able to see who she guessed was the manager, watching the football game on the small black and white TV that was situated under the room keys on the far wall. He was an obnoxious looking man, whose appearance was obviously paying homage to sleazeball's everywhere, and from the smell of him had been trying to help conserve water by foregoing bathing for at least a month, perhaps longer.

A floorboard squeaked as she stepped on it and his head whipped round to the source of the noise. As soon as he spotted her he unabashedly leered at her, something she'd had to deal with many times before but never got used to, not that she would want to. Knowing that she could use her looks to her advantage, having done so many times before in spite of how dirty it had always made her feel afterwards, she added a little sway to her walk and put a half-smile on her face, one that she knew had an affect on men.

"How can I help you girlie?" he slurred, obviously three sheets to the wind and working on his fourth.

Faith winced internally whilst putting a smoky look in her eyes as she responded. She hated doing this sort of thing, but it was something she'd had to do more than once to survive and saw no reason to stop now.

"Well I'm new in town and I was hoping that there may be a vacancy I could fill?" she asked, smiling seductively whilst slowly licking her bottom lip.

"I'm thinking the same thing," he responded with a leer.

She could feel him mentally undressing her with his eyes and was glad that she had control over her gag reflex, otherwise what little she had eaten today would be all over the floor, not that many people would notice from the state of it. She then flinched as she remembered just how she had learnt to suppress her gag reflex, memories that she would like nothing more than to forget, not come to the forefront of her mind.

"So, do you have any vacancies?" she asked again, trying to keep the revulsion he felt for him out of her voice.

"Yeah, the rooms are $40 a night or $200 a week," he responds, his voice sounding less slurred when talking about money.

It wasn't bad as rooms went she thought, but she had no idea how long she had to stay in this dirt-water town and without a steady income, she needed to try and get the price down.

"Is there any chance of a reduction?" she asked, flattering her eyes.

Once she said that he got up, the wooden chair that he had been sitting on making a sound like a sigh as his oversized frame left it. He made his way unsteadily from behind the counter and slowly walked toward her, the pungent smell that was emanating from him increasing exponentially as he moved closer.

She could tell that he was going to try and use his height to intimidate her; he was a good foot taller than her and due to his close proximity she had to crane her neck to see him, and if she were a normal girl it would probably be working. Of course she wasn't a normal girl, and even before she had been Chosen to be the Slayer she would have eaten men like him for breakfast, so she wasn't intimidated in the slightest.

"Oh I can think of a way darlin', something we can both enjoy," he said suggestively, his meaning clear.

He began to unzip his pants, but before the zipper got halfway down he found himself suddenly being suspended in the air. Faith had been willing to flirt with him a little, maybe even suggest that there would be something in it for him and then feign ignorance, but what she wasn't going to do was go down on him, even if he gave her the room for free. She may have done it before she became the Slayer, but she was above that now, and most definitely above him.

"Now, I was just asking nicely whether there was a chance of a discount, thinking that you'd be the Good Samaritan and all," she stated with a cold tone that sent a shiver down his spine. He went to speak but she slammed him against the wall and he took the hint. "I wouldn't go near your dick with a chainsaw and even this is probably going to bring me out in hives." Being dumb, he tried to say something again only to get slammed again. "Because I'm feeling in a good mood I'm going to make you a deal, you give me a room for $75 a week and I won't feed you to a vamp. Deal?" Realising that he had no choice, he tentatively nodded his head, the painful throbbing from the slams to the wall making it difficult to move.

"D-d-deal," he managed to stammer out.

She dropped him to the floor and took a key from the rack, leaving $75 on the counter. She took one last look at the manager with an expression of disdain plainly visible on her features, and then made her way to her room.

A room was a pretty accurate description of it; there was just enough room for the bed and a small chest of drawers, which were the only things in the room other than a similar looking TV to the one in the reception. The door to the bathroom was open and she could tell that it was as compact as the main room; between the sink, toilet and shower cubicle there seemed to be just enough space for her to stand in.

She decided to 'settle in' first, which consisted of putting her clothes away in the chest of drawers, something that would take all of five minutes. After that arduous task was completed, she intended to go out to work off the excess energy she had after dealing with that worthless piece of crap of a manager. A small but genuine smile appeared on her face as she remembered that she was the Hellmouth, meaning that she wouldn't be disappointed with what she found.


	4. Chapter Three

_**Chapter Three**_

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Since getting off the phone with Giles, neither Xander nor Buffy had spoken a word. Buffy was sitting down on the brown leather couch situated to the left of Xander's desk, as that way she was able to keep Xander in plain sight whilst also resting her feet.

Taking a look around at the warehouse, the part that was lit anyway, she noticed that for someone who was never expecting to have company, Xander had plenty of seating. There was another couch the other side of his desk, which although it was obscured slightly by darkness she could tell black leather and not brown, and there were also two large leather armchairs, again one black and one brown.

Xander had become restless a few minutes after Buffy had finished speaking to Giles, so he had gotten up out of his chair and started going through a Tai Chi routine, needing something to take his mind off of the upcoming events.

Watching him move through the routine, Buffy was surprised that he knew how to do that, as she didn't think he would even know what Tai Chi was, let alone practise it.

His moves were fluid, which indicated that he had done them many times before, and his eyes were closed which was a sure sign that he was giving the moves his total concentration.

As he began his third routine, he slowly got further away from her and closer to the unlit area of the warehouse, something Buffy found suspicious despite knowing that he wouldn't try to get away.

"Stay where I can see you," she told him, using a tone that brook no refusal.

He said nothing, but he changed his course slightly to remain within the light. He finished the routine then turned to face her, his shoulders slumping slightly at the look she was giving him.

"I'm not going anywhere Buff," he stated forlornly, "this is after all my home."

Buffy got a momentary flash of guilt at the defeated posture he'd assumed but ignored it, her need for answers overriding everything else.

"No you're not," she stated with conviction, "not until you explain why you've been keeping things from me, us, again."

He noticed her slip of the tongue, and knew that this was as much about their other problem as it was about their current situation. He decided that they need to clear the air once and for all about 'The Lie' before getting into anything else, otherwise when Willow and Giles turned up and he started explaining everything, her emotions were going to get in the way.

"As I said before, I don't want to explain it more than once, but there is something that we need to discuss before Willow and Giles get here, if only to ensure that I get a fair trial before you file judgement on me," he stated, this time successfully keeping the bitterness he felt over the whole thing out of his voice.

That piqued Buffy's interest, as the fact that he was willing to talk about anything was a stark contrast to the run-around he'd been giving her until now.

"And what do we need to talk about?" she asked.

"Us," he replied.

Buffy's eyes bugged out, thinking that he wanted to talk about their feelings for each other, but hid it as best she could.

"We barely talk anymore," he continued, slowly walking closer to the couch so he didn't have to shout, "and when we do it generally ends up in another row where we just rehash the same things over and over again. We need to clear the air and decide one way or the other where we stand."

"Fine," she said bitingly, "you lied to me."

Knowing that if he responded the way he normally did they'd just enter another mud-slinging contest, he decided to try a different route, one that he had hoped he wouldn't have to use.

"I never told you this," he began, now sitting on the arm furthest away from her, "but after the Harvest, I talked to Giles about allowing me and Willow to continue fighting alongside you. We all knew that he didn't like the fact we even knew about your night job, let alone that we wanted to help. I could tell that he was thinking of ways to keep us out of the fight, he knew just forbidding us wouldn't work and threatening us wouldn't either, his Green Card doesn't entitle him to be violent toward minors after all. The moment I heard the two of you talking about vampires, I knew that this was a fight that I needed to be a part of. I couldn't just stay at home while one of my friends risked her life to keep me safe, and after Jesse dying there was no way I was going to sit it out. I could tell I was getting nowhere with him, he had made his mind up, until I gave him my word that I would do everything in my power to keep you safe, including giving my life for yours." Xander stood up again and started pacing to and fro in front of her.

"He stared me right in the eye for nearly a minute, the most frightening minute of my life I can tell you, before he accepted it, knowing that I was telling him the truth. Since that day I have kept my word, doing whatever was necessary to ensure you see another sunrise, often ending with me flying through the air with the greatest of ease. That is something I will continue to do until my dying day, which by the way I'm expecting to be when I'm old and grey." He stopped his pacing and stood right in front of her, mindful of her self described 'safety zone'.

"Deceiving you that night was the hardest thing I have ever done but I would do it again if it meant keeping you alive, even if it meant that you would never speak to me again. The fact of the matter is I would rather have you as a living enemy than a dead friend." He gave her a lop-sided smile, trying to break up the tension his little speech had caused and was pleased when he received a little smile in return, seeing that as a good sign.

"Of course I prefer the third option of having you as a living friend, seeing as I like ya and all."

Buffy was shocked to hear how strongly he felt about keeping her alive, and the lengths that he would go to do it. Looking in his eyes she could see the utter conviction that was held within them, as well as how truly sorry he was that he had hurt her.

She never truly thought about how he might be feeling about everything, how painful it must have been for him to lie to one of the most important people in his life. It also shocked her to know that he would do the exact same thing again if he had to, despite knowing the consequences of his actions.

At that moment she decided to forgive him, only to realise that she had already forgiven him some time ago but couldn't admit it to herself. The way she saw it was that at the end of the day, she would be foolish to remain angry with someone who cared so much for her that they would risk everything to keep her safe.

There was this nagging thought in her head however that she needed to pacify though before she could come out and tell him.

"If I asked you to give me your word that you would never lie to me again, would you?" she asked, almost pleading for him to say yes.

Xander expected her to ask that if she ever decided finally to forgive him. He knew what she wanted to hear, which was his vow to never deceive or lie to her ever again. He'd never however been known as someone who said what people wanted to hear, but what they needed to hear. He felt no need to change that trend now.

"Yes," he said, but continued before she had a chance to speak, "unless telling you the truth meant your death, in which case I would lie my ass off."

Buffy was surprised that he had basically said no, even though he must have realised she was giving him an out, and got angry. She stood up suddenly, which forced him to take a couple of steps back.

"That's not good enough Xander!" she practically screamed.

Instead of returning the anger, Xander stayed calm and asked his own question, already knowing what the answer would be, but needing her to realise it as well.

"Would you lie to me if it meant saving my life?" he asked.

As soon as she had heard the question she knew she didn't have a leg to stand on. Xander knew as well as she did that she would do whatever it took to keep him and everyone else she cared about safe, including lie. She slumped back into the comfort of the couch, sighing dejectedly.

"That's not fair and you know it," she said sullenly, trying to get out of answering.

Xander knew that she was evading the question, but he knew that for their friendship to survive he needed to hear her answer, whatever it may be.

"Would you lie to me if it meant saving my life?" he repeated.

She glared at him but there was no anger in it any longer, only frustration born from knowing that there was only one way she could truthfully answer the question.

"Yes, you know I would," she responded eventually, trying desperately not to give in to her need to pout.

She expected to see a smug grin appear on his face at his victory, but instead all she saw was the warm and caring look that she had been missing for what had felt like an eternity. He went and knelt down in front of her, taking her slender hands into his own.

"Then don't expect me to do any different," he stated soothingly.

He could see her starting to tear up so, acting instinctively, he gathered her into his arms and allowed her to cry herself out, gently running his fingers through her hair and stroking her back. He knew that this wasn't the first time she'd cried over everything that had happened last year, but she hadn't been able to get closure over it until now. Because of that the feelings never lessened, instead they were constantly on a loop, keeping her unbalanced and incapable of moving past it.

After a few minutes she stopped crying and indicated for Xander to let go, which he did so albeit reluctantly, but remained close to her. He gently gripped her chin with his hand and tilted her head to face him, a soft smile on his face.

"Are we good?" he asked hopefully.

She returned his smile with one of her own and Xander felt that all was right with the world for the first time in months.

"Yeah, we're good," she replied. "Why did you do this now, why not before?"

Xander gently ran the pads of his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away her tears as he replied, completely unaware of how much his touch was affecting her.

"We've needed to clear the air about that since the night you slapped me," he stated softly, "whenever we tried before we just ended up feeling worse and never got any closer to working things out. I had to know where we stood with each other, good or bad, because what I'm going to tell you is going to be difficult to believe, it sounds far fetched to me and I've been living it all my life."

"Is it any more far fetched than the one about a teenage girl that has been given superpowers as she's been chosen to fight vampires and other supernatural creatures of the night?" she asked with a smile that he returned. "I trust you Xander, I always have done. I just needed to be reminded of the fact I guess."

"You have no idea how glad that makes me feel," he stated, his face almost bursting with happiness.

Buffy looked into Xander's eyes and could see the unadulterated joy he was feeling in his chocolate brown orbs.

"I think I have some idea," she whispered.

**Jarod's Apartment,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Jarod was sitting at his kitchen table with a confused look on his face. Covering the entire surface of the table was paperwork concerning Sunnydale, specifically to do with the rates of missing persons and murders/deaths.

Popping another Pez into his mouth, he started going over the information he'd already managed to retrieve, idly wondering if it was all some ruse by the Centre to get him here. He knew otherwise of course, it was just that when you're constantly on the run, it made it hard not to see conspiracies around every corner.

He had always planned to visit Sunnydale from the moment he had managed to escape the Centre's clutches, but not until he had found his parents and secured his own freedom from both the Centre and the Triumvirate, as he hadn't wanted to run the risk of bringing The Centre's attention to the town.

His plans changed however when, during one of his random Internet searches, he had found himself on a conspiracy site that claimed that Sunnydale had a higher death rate than New York and Los Angeles combined. He had initially thought it was a joke site, but the name Sunnydale was enough for him to take a closer look.

The site went on to say that, although the data was there for the world to see, there had been no investigation other than those conducted by the local Police department. The thought that so many deaths could occur in one town, without any government agency taking notice was beyond comprehension to Jarod; he wasn't naïve enough to think that it couldn't happen, but he found it hard to believe it was to the extent the site claimed.

His need to find out one way or another meant that he began to do some investigating of his own and had found that the site was correct, the amount of deaths that had occurred in the small town would look more at home in a war zone than sunny California.

Although he knew that by doing so he could put his long term plans in serious jeopardy, something he had done his level best to avoid to that point, he'd had no choice but to go to Sunnydale before he was ready. His own code or morals would not allow him to sit idly by when countless innocent people were losing their lives if he had any chance of saving them.

His decision made, he had been pleased, as well as a little suspicious, when he had found out that there was a job available at the local High School, caused by the untimely death of a teacher, and had made sure that his application would be the one accepted. That task had been easier than he had expected, as he quickly found that he was actually the only person who had applied, even though the job had been available for several months.

Now that he was here, he was having trouble believing that the reports were true, despite all of the facts to the contrary. Yes, the town did have at least a dozen different cemeteries, although strangely no crematoriums, but other than that it was the picture of suburban normality. He had hacked into the SDPD database and found that the main causes attributed to the deaths were either animal attacks or gang members on PCP.

Finally having a starting point, he decided to check the viability of those causes.

The town was almost completely surrounded by wooded areas that could be home to wolves or other such creatures, giving some weight to the animal attack theory, but there had to be several large packs to justify the amount of deaths attributed to that cause, not to mention that there had never been any sightings of wild animals roaming the streets, which given the sheer number of deaths was improbable.

Initially, the gang member theory was the more plausible of the two to Jarod, until he had actually seen the town. There weren't any ghetto areas as the town simply wasn't large enough to house one, no real record of youth crime beyond what normally occurred, there wasn't even any graffiti in sight.

If it was gang related, they must either be commuting from LA, not exactly standard gang behaviour, or the gangs involved were the PTA and Neighbourhood Watch groups. At the moment he was at a loss, but he was determined to solve what had to be the biggest mystery had encountered that wasn't directly associated with his family.

As the pages began to merge together in his mind, Jarod realised that he needed to rest and start again tomorrow with a clear head. It would also be his first day of teaching, not something new to him, but he wanted to make a good impression with the students.

The last thing he intended to do after tidying away the paperwork was to put the finishing touches on his next parcel for Ms. Parker, concerning the other reason he was in Sunnydale. He just hoped he knew what he was doing, which in itself was a new experience for him.

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Since their reconciliation, Buffy and Xander had been catching up on everything they had missed whilst not speaking to each other. Willow had done her best to keep them both informed, but with the heavy filtering she'd had to do in an effort to keep the relative peace between them, she couldn't say a lot.

Their talk was disrupted when the door at the front of the warehouse suddenly blew inward, Willow stalking in its stead with Giles in hot pursuit.

"Alexander Lavelle Harris, what the hell is going on?!" Willow screamed at the top of her lungs, her face red with barely repressed rage.

Before Willow had a chance to continue, Giles put one of his hands over her mouth and turned her to face him, shocking the younger Scooby members by his uncharacteristic behaviour.

"Willow, I want you to listen very carefully," Giles all but growled to the redhead, "you need to find a way to calm down before you do something rash. You of all people should know that Xander doesn't respond positively to being shouted at, doing so will only make it difficult to find out what is going on." He paused for a moment, trying to work out what to do next. "I'm going to remove my hand in a moment but I need for you to get a grip on your anger, or I shall show you how adept I am at magic by removing your ability to speak completely. Are we clear?"

Willow attempted to glare at him but her attempt paled in comparison to the glare she was currently receiving from Giles, who looked as though he were reaching critical mass in the patience department.

Realising that she had no chance of winning the confrontation, as well as the very real possibility of becoming mute for the foreseeable future, Willow reluctantly nodded her head.

After waiting a few moments to ensure she understood the situation, Giles removed his hand from her mouth and she quickly moved away from his grasp and practically stalked over to Buffy and Xander.

"I better hear a damned good explanation for all this Xander or you will find out just how far I've got in my studies of witchcraft!" she growled at her oldest friend, shocking everyone by how out of character she was behaving.

Xander was taken aback by his normally shy friends fury, the thought that she could be so angry with him was so unreal to him that it sent him into an almost catatonic state.

Buffy could see how much pain Xander was in at seeing his lifelong friend act so aggressively towards him, and decided to interject on his behalf as he didn't seem capable of doing so himself.

"Willow, you really need to calm down. I know I'm the one to have called you and Giles over, but we need to hear Xander out and this isn't going to help," Buffy pleaded.

Seeing that she wasn't getting through to her redheaded friend, and frightened that Willow's eyes were now completely black, she tried a new tactic.

"Willow, you're scaring him."

That did the trick. The thought of scaring Xander cut through her anger like a hot knife through butter. Her expression went from angry to upset in a heartbeat, tears coming to her eyes as she saw how traumatized Xander was, his condition caused solely by her.

She immediately ran over to him and pulled him into a rib-crushing hug, and her tears increased when she felt him flinch at the contact. She had her face buried into his chest and was speaking faster than either Buffy or Giles had ever heard from her before, only catching the occasional 'sorry' as that seemed to be the word she was saying the most.

Eventually Xander came out of the daze he was in and began to return the hug, which strangely only caused her to cry more and squeeze him harder.

Knowing that they'd be like that for a while, Buffy turned to her Watcher, a dangerous glint in her eye that Giles knew was not for show.

"What was with the roughhousing of Willow Giles?" Buffy asked her Watcher.

Giles had the decency to look guilty at that, averting his eyes to the floor as he cleaned his glasses.

"Willow has been steadily driving me insane from the moment she overheard our conversation," he replied, "and I'm afraid that she pushed my considerable patience to the limit. I shall apologise to her once she has removed herself from Xander, but from what I saw of her before you managed to get through, it may not have been a bad thing for me to have done."

"What do you mean by that, and while we're at it how did she know what we were talking about?" she asked, her concern evident in her expression and her voice.

"It seems she's learned a spell that allows her to listen in on other people's conversations and she decided to use it to eavesdrop on our telephone conversation," he explained to his young charge. "She's been building up a head of steam since I got off the phone and I fear that, had I not intervened as I did, she would have cast a rather nasty spell on Xander before we had a chance to find out what all this was about, not to mention causing Xander no end of pain."

Buffy paled slightly at that, never thinking that Willow could be capable of even thinking about harming Xander, let alone actually attempting it.

"I've never seen her so angry, and was I seeing things or were her eyes black?" she asked, hoping the answer was that she was indeed hallucinating.

Giles sighed, having noticed the same thing when she blew the door in.

"I fear that you weren't hallucinating," he responded, his concern also visible, "It seems that Willow doesn't have as much control over her emotions or power as she makes out, something that will prove detrimental if she continues to study witchcraft. Without control, there is the possibility of her slipping into the dark arts, as I myself did for a time. It is something that we need to keep a very close eye on."

"You won't get any arguments from me on that score."

Buffy got a guilty look on her face, realising that she had been the catalyst for Willow's explosion.

"I should have been more diplomatic on the phone, I'm sorry," she said apologetically.

Giles sent her a fatherly smile and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.

"While I can't really disagree with your last statement," he said grinning wryly, "I do understand how traumatic the last year or so has been on you, so we'll call it a learning experience and leave it at that yes?"

Buffy smiled brightly at him then gave him a quick hug, causing Giles to get a smile of his own, although he did look uncomfortable at the show of emotion.

"Thanks Giles, you're the best!" she exclaimed.

He patted her back lightly a couple of time before indicating that she let go of him, which she did immediately.

"Just remember that the next time I ask you to do something you don't like," he stated to his young charge.

"I promise, but after that all bets are off," she replied.

He smiled, knowing that was as good as he was going to get. He looked over to the other teens in the warehouse and saw that Willow had finally extricated herself from Xander and had calmed down considerably. He was especially happy that her eyes had returned to normal, more than well aware of how dangerous it was that she could even reach that state in the first place.

"Now we're all here, why don't we all sit down and allow Xander to explain why we're here," he said, looking pointedly at the young man.

Knowing that any more diversionary tactics would not work in his favour, Xander waited for the others to be seated before he decided to get straight to the point.

"I'll cut right to the chase," he began. "Yes, I've been holding back a lot of information about myself, Willow more than anyone as she's known me the longest. Yes, I do have valid reasons for doing so, although I doubt you'll see it that way. No, I won't be telling you everything and I don't really care if you like that or not as we all have things that we haven't told each other."

He could tell that they're not entirely happy with what he said, Willow being the first to voice her unhappiness.

"That's not the point," she stated emphatically.

His gaze snapped to his friend, a dangerous glint in his eye that she'd never seen aimed at her before, her earlier outburst still very fresh in his memory even if he had forgiven her.

"That's exactly the point Willow," he responded. He looked at each of them in turn. "What did you do during your 'sabbatical' Buffy? Giles, what other things did you do in your youth to earn the name 'Ripper'? Willow, why do the FBI do random checks on your computer?"

"They do what!" Willow screeched, completely forgetting everything else.

Xander looked at her a little smugly, knowing that she hadn't been keeping her hacking skills as up to date since her discovery of magic.

"I'm surprised that you didn't know, 'firetree375'," he taunted.

"How do you know my…" she trailed off as she saw the look Xander was sending her way.

"That doesn't matter, what does matter is that we all have secrets, things that we don't want others to know. What angers me is that when you have secrets it's fine and dandy, but when I do its interrogation time and threats of violence."

"You're right Xander," Giles said before Willow or Buffy could protest, surprising the three teens.

"Giles?" Willow said meekly.

"Willow, Xander may well have some explaining to do, but it doesn't warrant the treatment we are showing him."

Giles then turned his gaze to Xander, causing the young man to shrink in on himself slightly.

"I do hope that an explanation is coming though," he stated, his tone telling Xander what might happen if there wasn't.

"There is, and thank you," he replied.

"I wouldn't thank me yet Xander, you still haven't explained what is going on here."

Xander flinched at the tone in Giles' voice until he saw the glint of humour in his eyes and realised he was just playing with him. Giles knew more than most that there were things that people would like to keep secret from the rest of the world, and he respected Xander's right to that privacy. However, that was only as long as the secrets he kept weren't risking the safety of Buffy, Willow or himself.

"You need to know some background information to truly understand what I am about to tell you," he told them, trying to find the words to explain something he'd kept hidden his entire life. "To start off, Tony and Jessica aren't my real parents…"

"You're adopted!" Willow screamed before he had a chance to go on. "How could you not tell me that Xander?"

Xander sighed, knowing that it was going to take a long time to get through this if he was going to be interrupted every sentence.

"If I had, what would you have done?" he asked.

"Tried to find your real parents of course!" Willow replied whilst giving him her best 'duh!' face

"And that's why I couldn't tell you. There are people that, if they found out I was alive, would stop at nothing to capture me."

"What…" Willow began to say, but Xander cut her off, needing to explain before he died of old age.

"I'm getting there Willow, if you'll let me. This is what happened, based on what they told me and what I worked out; Tony and Jessica were coming back from a holiday when they were witness to a car crash between an unmarked black sedan and a station wagon. This was before they were continually drunk, meaning that they acted like human beings back then, so they decided to see of they could help. The occupants of the sedan were all dead; the woman driving the station wagon however was still alive, but only by a thread. They also found me, crying but otherwise unharmed, laying in the back. The woman, realising that she wasn't going to make it, asked them to take care of me. For some strange reason they said yes, so the woman gave them a large manila envelope stuffed with money and some other documents, thanked them for their kindness, before finally dying as well. They took me out of the back seat and as they were strapping me in the back of their car, the sedan exploded taking the station wagon with it."

While Buffy and Willow were dumbstruck by what Xander was telling them, Giles was curious how Xander knew so much about what happened when he was just a baby.

"How do you know all this?" Giles asked his surrogate son.

"As I said before, a combination of what I was told and what I could work out from forensic reports," Xander replied. "Tony decided to tell me on my fifth birthday; he said he wanted me to know that they had never planned on having me, and that I should be grateful for their generosity. I found the documents the woman gave them in the loft a couple of years later, Tony made me clean it out as punishment for knocking over his scotch. When I first found them I couldn't read a word, they were in some sort of code; thinking about it now, I'm surprised that Tony kept them, they were probably forgotten about once the alcohol kicked in. After a lot of time and effort I was finally able to decipher them, they detailed where I actually came from."

Xander stopped to gauge their reactions so far to find them all practically perched on the edge of their seats, listening to his every word.

"Which was?" Buffy asked, causing Xander to smile slightly at the thinly veiled excitement in her voice.

"I'm getting to it Buff," he replied, enjoying extending the suspense. "The documents told me that I had been taken from an installation known as The Centre, she had taken me from being used in a project called 'Pretender'."

"Have you eaten a bad batch of Twinkies?" Willow asked.

Xander groaned in exasperation, he knew things were going too well.

"No Willow I haven't," he replied, "not that there's such a thing as a bad batch of Twinkies."

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you," Willow explained, trying but failing miserably to hide her scepticism, "but to tell us that you were taken from a government installation of some sort?"

She was unconvinced, but at least she wasn't ragging on him about the fact he'd kept all this from her all these years. Of course once she did believe him… he decided that not thinking about what would happen then was a good idea so he continued with his explanation.

"If the Centre are to do with the government it isn't this one, even if it is in Delaware," he explained, assuming a passable facsimile of Giles' lecture voice. "The Centre is officially designated as a think tank; trying to solve the world's problems like why when one person looks at a painting they smile but when someone else does they frown, that sort of thing. In reality, they are basically 'problem solvers'; they sell their 'services' to the highest bidder, the bidders generally being governments or military organisations, and the 'Pretender' project is their biggest source of income."

The two girls were finding it hard to take it all in, Giles too, but he'd had more experience with dealing with life altering revelations and was able to grasp enough to be curious about certain aspects of his story so far.

"What is the 'Pretender' project?" The Watcher asked.

"The 'Pretender' project deals with people who, for want of a better term, are geniuses. They are taken from their families, either voluntarily or by other means, and trained to hone their abilities so they can literally become, or pretend to be, someone else. They are able to work how that person would think, feel and act under certain circumstances."

"How could that generate money for the Centre?" Willow asked.

She was finally starting to assimilate everything, and was fascinated at how smart the 'Pretenders' seem to be, but couldn't really see how that would make anyone money.

"I'll give you an example; they pretend they're a virologist tasked to produce an antidote to a deadly new virus."

"That sounds like a good thing," Giles commented, receiving a nod of agreement from Xander.

"It is, but to create an antidote they would first need to create the virus," he explained. "Once they've completed the simulation, The Centre would then have a virus that, before that point, didn't exist and the only viable antidote. They could sell that to a terrorist group, or a government that doesn't believe in the Geneva Convention, or anyone with enough money. It doesn't stop there; Pretenders can simulate anything, how to burgle a gold repository, or how to track a kidnapper or murderer."

"Why would someone want to buy that?" Willow asked. "I mean, the police and the FBI already do that don't they?"

Giles began to see where Xander was going with this and explained to Willow and Buffy on his behalf.

"They would use the information to know what not to do, so they could kidnap or kill someone without being caught," Giles explained to the girls before turning to Xander. "Why would these Pretenders do that?"

"A number of reasons," Xander replied. "As I explained earlier, they are taken and trained from an early age, meaning that in the beginning at least they aren't really aware of what the simulations could be used for, seeing them only as another exercise to test their intellect. Later on if they begin wondering why they're asked to work all these things out, they're lied to and told that they're helping save people's lives by working the simulations out. If they rebel or find out the truth, they are threatened and if that doesn't work they're either 're-educated' or 'retired', neither of those options is a pleasant one."

Xander could tell that Giles got what he meant by that, but the girls weren't quite as quick to pick it up, which was not necessarily a bad thing in Xander's opinion.

"What do you mean, 're-educated' or 'retired'?" Buffy asked.

Xander looked over to Giles who nodded imperceptibly to him, in answer to the silent question visible in the young mans eyes. He didn't want to explain the implications to either of his friends without Giles' agreement.

"They're either brainwashed or killed if that doesn't work."

"So you're a Pretender?" Willow asked/stated.

"Not exactly." Xander replied.

"But I thought you…"

"I was to be part of the Pretender project," Xander explained, cutting off Willow's question, "but I was considered to be the next stage of the project. You know when people say there are times when they wished they hadn't been born? Well in my case it's actually true; I wasn't conceived, nobody was pregnant with me, nobody had to go through labour and I wasn't born in the biological sense. I was grown; manufactured in a laboratory by men and women in white coats. They took the sperm of their best 'home grown' Pretender and inserted it into an ova they took from a woman who had her own special gift, and after a tweak here and a tweak there I was the result."

Both of his friends flew over to him, hugging him fiercely as the tears caused by revealing his origins come in spite of his best efforts to suppress them. Giles also went over to the young man, grasping his shoulder in a show of support and solidarity.

No one was able to comprehend what it must be like for Xander to know that he was created as part of an experiment, that there was no love involved in the process only cold clinical precision.

"How were you rescued?" Giles asked, the first of them able to voice their questions after that last revelation.

"It was one of lab technicians," Xander explained, "who I found out later was called Madeline Beaumont, that rescued me from my fate as a lifelong lab rat. She was the woman in the car that my 'parents' rescued me from."

"What else did they do?" Xander looked at Buffy strangely. "You said that they tweaked you."

"Oh," Xander said dumbly. "They genetically altered my DNA, increasing my physical and mental abilities beyond what they would have been had I been made the old fashioned way."

"Like Captain America?" Xander looked at Buffy in shock. "What? Just because I'm not obsessed like you about comic books doesn't mean I haven't read one before."

"Sorry," Xander said before chuckling slightly. "It is a little like that. They've upgraded my natural agility and stamina, but my strength and speed weren't affected, although I am stronger than you think I am."

"What do you mean by that?" Giles asked.

"I've been working out for the last couple of years," Xander explained, "since just after the Harvest actually. I've been working on endurance rather than power, which is why I haven't bulked up too much; think athlete rather than weightlifter."

Xander flicked a switch and another part of the warehouse was illuminated, revealing a full set of gym equipment.

"I suppose that now you know where this place is, Buffy could use it for her training sessions."

"Cool!" Buffy said.

"Any other enhancements?" Willow asked, the scientific side of things piquing her curiosity.

"My immune system is more resilient than normal and I heal faster too."

"How much faster?" Giles asked before Willow is able, causing her to glare at him slightly.

"About 50 above normal," Xander explained, "so nothing near Buffy's level but it has meant that after a vamps used me as a punching bag, I've been able to move the next morning."

"Speaking of which, how come you've always acted like you can't fight?" Buffy asked, remembering earlier when he was going through those Tai Chi routines.

"I've never let on how well I can fight, which is different from pretending that I can't fight at all."

"Xander," Giles said, cutting off Buffy from starting an argument, "while I am not suggesting that you're being untruthful, I have to say that I m having a hard time believing that all this is true."

"How about I prove the physical aspects, then go from there?" Xander suggested.

"Alright."

Xander walked over to the gym area, which Giles noticed was more extensive than he first believed; it appeared that on top of the general gym equipment, he also had a pommel horse, a high bar and a set of rings. It was the rings that Xander walked towards, doing some basic stretching exercises as he did so.

Xander jumped up, easily catching the rings above him, and then pulled himself up until his arms were level with the floor, achieving a cross shape. He then pushed himself up further so his arms were by his sides, and then brought his legs up so it appeared the he was in a sitting position, before slowly rotating his body at the shoulders until he was in a handstand position. He kept that position for a moment before slowly opening his arms out until they were once again level with the floor, achieving an inverted cross position, which he held for a moment before returning to the handstand position he started from. He held the position for another moment, and then swung down then up, performing two revolutions before releasing the rings, performing a somersault in the air before landing gracefully to the floor.

"Does that meet the physical portion of the demonstration?" Xander asked innocently.

"Good lord!"

"That was so cool!"

"How the hell?"

Xander smiled at their reactions, knowing that he'd had to go for something special to get them to believe him. He hadn't got off easy; he didn't do the amount of stretching that he normally would as he didn't want them to think he was stalling, which meant that he would feel it in the morning but luckily he hadn't pulled anything. He'd also performed a routine that he had rarely done before, as a little showing off couldn't hurt and he needed to ensure they couldn't play down his abilities.

"As I said, I've been exercising for the last couple of years. Add to that the patrolling and you've got a pretty intensive regimen. If you had found out six months ago I might not have been able to pull that off, as I said they didn't enhance my strength so I've had to build that the old fashioned way and you need to be strong to pull off a routine like that."

"OK, you've proven the physical side of things at least but Xand, you're seriously trying to tell us that you're a genius?" Buffy asked, making it pretty obvious what she thought of that idea.

"Thank you Buffy for sounding so incredulous when you said that, you sure know how to stroke a mans ego."

"We all know you're smart Xand," Buffy said, noticing the hurt expression on her friends face, "but to believe that you could do what the Pretenders can is a little hard to swallow."

Giles raised an eyebrow at the choice of words the two were using, but said nothing as he couldn't be sure whether they were aware of it or not.

"Alright; what do you suggest, a pop quiz?" Xander asked.

"Why not;" Buffy replied, "Willow is our resident brainiac, how about she asks you something that only someone as smart as her would know."

"Fine by me, hit me with your best shot Wills."

"I'll start you off easy Xander, being my oldest and closest friend and all." Willow said, internally trying to think of a zinger for him. "What is Pi to fifteen decimal places?" she asked him after a moment.

Both Giles and Buffy hoped that Willow knew the answer, as while Giles had an idea of what she meant didn't know, and Buffy didn't even know what Willow was even on about.

Xander laughed slightly at the question. "That's what you call an easy question?" he asked.

Willow smiled at him sweetly, not expecting him to understand the question, let alone know the answer. Willow knew better than most that Xander was smarter that he let on, but what he was saying was simply absurd.

"It is if you know the answer," she retorted, smiling a little condescendingly.

Xander returned the smile and winked at her. "3.141592653589793," he rattled off quickly.

"What is HDE 226868?" Willow asked before Giles or Buffy could ask if he were right or not.

"HDE 226868 is a blue super giant star found in the Cygnus the Swan constellation, about six thousand light years away," Xander replied immediately, causing Willow to look at him in astonishment. "Of course, if you go by what's written on the wall in the boys bathroom, it's also the number to Harmony's sex chat line."

That caused the girls to laugh and Giles to pinch the bridge of his nose. Once the laughter died down Willow continued.

"What's a singularity?"

"A singularity is a point at which the curvature of space, according to the general theory of relativity, is infinite," he answered, once more with the right answer. "Anymore or is that enough?"

Willow was silent for a while, causing Buffy to become worried.

"Willow?" Buffy called softly.

Willow's head snapped round to look at Buffy, her eyes so wide that it looked like they were going to fall out.

"He's right!" she exclaimed.

"Again with the incredulity, is it so hard to believe that I might be smarter than I've let on?"

"Only to people who know you, or have met you, or have met people that met you, or…" Buffy went to continue, but Xander cut her off.

"Alright already! Are we done with the questions?"

"One more; what's the second law of thermodynamics?" Willow asked.

"Oh for crying out…" Xander sighed exasperated. "The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy – the disorder – in any system will increase over time unless energy is added to the system. Are you convinced now?"

"Uh, well, yes," Giles answered, cutting Willow off from asking yet another question. He had a sneaking suspicion that she would continue asking him questions until he got one wrong, and then use that one wrong answer as proof that he wasn't a genius. "This does of course bring up something else; why you have kept this from us all."

"There's no one reason why," he began to explain, "so I'll start from the beginning. When I first found out, I was young; too young to really appreciate everything I had been told but old enough to realise it was serious. When I found the documents I realised they were the only things I had of where I really came from and wanted to keep them to myself. As I started being able to decipher the information, the need to keep things to myself increased as I started to understand what could happen if I was ever found. When I would see the amount of attention Willow got due to how smart she was, I knew that if I showed my true intelligence the attention I received could give me a prison sentence."

"You must have realised how bright you were before you realised why, I remember Willow telling me that she has known you since kindergarten," Buffy asked.

"You're right I did," Xander replied, silently pleased that Buffy had realised that.

"So why didn't anyone ever notice how intelligent you were?"

"Because by the time anyone would have been able to notice, I was already hiding it."

"Why?" Buffy asked, genuinely curious.

"Willow."

"Huh?" Willow said dumbly.

"Let me tell you a story;" he said to them all, "a boy goes to his first day of kindergarten determined to make a good impression. His dad likes to tell him how useless he is so he wants to prove him wrong by being as popular as possible, thereby proving his worth. Everything goes to plan in the beginning; he says all the right things to all the right people, quickly becoming one of the most popular kids there. Then lunchtime comes along and everything changes; he spots a shy little girl with fire red hair…"

"That's me," Willow chirped in happily, but Xander ignored her and continued with his tale.

"… Being picked on by a bunch of bullies, lead by one Cordelia Chase. He sees the tears and sadness in the little girls eyes and knows he has to do something. He goes over and tells Cordelia and the others to leave the girl alone. They aren't used to anyone standing up to them so they leave, but tell the boy that they don't want to be friends with him anymore. The boy is crushed, all his planning goes down the drain and he knows his dad is going to be angry with him that he's annoyed the children of his boss. His mood changes when the girl starts hugging him and begins talking faster than he ever heard before, thanking him over and over for saving her from the bullies. The boy says that it wasn't a problem, they introduce themselves and the rest as they say is history."

"That doesn't explain why you hid how smart you were before you knew of the risks," Giles noted, trying to get to the conversation back on track.

"God, you're like a dog with a bone aren't ya?"

"Xander…" Giles all but growled.

"Alright already. As Willow'll attest, she was far shier back then than she was when you first met her," Xander explained, Willow nodding in the affirmative to his statement. "The only thing apart from me, and later Jesse, that she felt comfortable with was learning. Everyone could tell how smart she was; it was her thing, being able to answer the questions no one else could. I could see how happy she was when she got an answer right or when she got an A on an assignment, especially the praise she got from the teachers for being the smartest in the class. I didn't want to steal her thunder and showing my true intellect would have done that."

"I wouldn't have cared Xander," Willow said, feeling guilty that Xander did that for her.

"Maybe not now," Xander replied, "but back then you enjoyed the fact you were smarter than the rest; whatever else they may have thought about you, they couldn't take that away from you and I know that thought helped you through some of the rougher times."

Willow had no choice but to agree, as it had taken her a while to realise that it didn't really matter what other people thought of her. She hated to admit it, but she knew that she would have resented Xander for being as smart as her, having to share the attention they would have gotten from the teachers.

"Okay," Buffy said, "I understand why you kept it from everyone back then. Why didn't you say anything later."

"I know it's rude to answer a question with a question," he responded, "but if Willow and I hadn't found out ourselves, would you have told us about being the Slayer?"

"I'd like to think so, but I doubt it. But that was because knowing would…"

"… Put us in danger." Xander completed for her. Buffy suddenly understood his reasoning. "That's the same reason why I haven't told any of you before, and why if you hadn't followed me here I'd never have told you. In a way knowing my secret is more dangerous than knowing yours."

Buffy couldn't help laughing at that one, thinking that her secret had put them all in life threatening situations countless times over the years.

"Want to rethink that last statement? We deal with things that could rip us all apart if given the chance."

"And we can kill them without facing any consequences," he countered. "If and when the time comes that they come after me, I'll be dealing with evil that's sunlight friendly and all living all the time. Last time I checked, which was actually a couple of weeks ago if I remember correctly, your job description doesn't include killing humans."

"That doesn't stop me from wanting to help," she stated firmly, gaining nods of agreement from Willow and Giles.

"I know and I am forever thankful that I have friends like you," he replied, touched by the support they were showing him, more than he had hoped for at the beginning of the evening. "You may get the chance to help out sooner than you thought."

"Why is that?" Willow asked.

"Jarod," he responded. "If I'm right, his presence will cause The Centre to be interested in our little town, and I'll do everything in my power to protect him and you from them."

"Why is that?" Giles asked, wondering why Xander would be so adamant about helping someone who was part of the group that would want his capture.

"Two reasons;" Xander responded, "one, he's a Pretender like myself. Two, there's a good chance that he's my biological father."


	5. Chapter Four

_**Chapter Four**_

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots were all waiting for the arrival of Mr. Swallow. Mr. Parker had made it clear that they were to make a good first impression with him, especially as he reported directly to the Triumvirate, and so he decided that they should be in attendance on his arrival at The Centre.

Broots was looking decidedly pale; his meetings with his brother were never civil, but he generally had a somewhat level playing field. Now that he was Brian's sub-ordinate, he knew that the following days and, God help him, weeks were going to be a living hell. He also knew that he only had to step out of line once to give Brian cause to 'retire' him permanently.

Miss Parker was a mixed bag of emotions, anger being the strongest of them. She was a _Parker_; that meant that they were at the top of the food chain and no one was to challenge that. Having the Triumvirate barge in and take over the hunt for Jarod was a definite challenge, one that she was more than ready to face.

While she would never admit it, hearing that Broots had a problem with Mr. Swallow as well only made her more determined to ensure that he had an 'accident' in the field. Broots may have a lot of faults, but he had come through for her many times and showed a loyalty that was decidedly rare within The Centre. Not only that, nobody else had the right to belittle him; he was _her_ whipping boy dammit, and he was going to stay that way.

Sydney was not looking forward to meeting Mr. Swallow any more than the others. From what Broots had told them, he might very well be the only person that could bring Jarod in, one way or the other. Even Raines' most ruthless retrieval teams were wary of collateral damage, leaving their options limited to trapping Jarod. It would be easier to find smoke in the fog than to trap Jarod normally, which had meant that Jarod had escaped capture on many occasions because of that.

Mr. Swallow seemed to have no compunction when it came to collateral damage and, from what Sydney could make out from the reports he had managed to get his hands on, he seemed to actually enjoy causing as much damage as possible.

Jarod was committed to staying outside of The Centre's control, but if the Pretender found out that there was a man willing to decimate an entire city just on the off chance that he'd catch Jarod in the blast, Sydney knew that he'd turn himself in to save those innocent people's lives.

If Sydney were honest with himself he'd admit that he didn't want Jarod captured; his life had been taken from him and he deserved to get it back. While he would miss the work he did with Jarod, knowing that nothing else would ever hope to challenge his intellect, his guilt over what their projects had been used for, and the pain and suffering Jarod had undergone during his incarceration within The Centre, far outweighed everything else.

He knew that Miss Parker wasn't chasing Jarod because she truly felt he belonged to The Centre, otherwise she would have already caught him. As a Red File herself, Miss Parker had the potential to be a Pretender of equal, or quite possibly greater, potential than even Jarod, which was proven by the way she had achieved everything that she'd ever set her mind out to do. That she hadn't brought Jarod back after almost three years proved, at least to him, that she had no real intention of ever fulfilling her end of the deal she had made with her father.

Broots had no vested interest in capturing Jarod in any way, other than it would place him in The Centre's good books. In fact, Broots' life had been made far better by Jarod; his winning custody over Debbie a prime example. If Sydney had to guess, if Broots thought he could get away with it, he would have no problem with letting Jarod go even of they did catch him.

It was for those reasons alone that Sydney had been helping them, as it was in his mind a way of helping Jarod remain free whilst making it look to The Centre that he wanted to resume his work with the genius. He would have left The Centre and helped Jarod in his search for his family a long time ago had he though that the chances of his capture were too high.

"Here he comes," Broots whispered to his two colleagues/friends.

Miss Parker and Sydney looked to where Broots was pointing, but all they could see was a large shadow.

"Where?" Sydney asked.

Broots didn't get a chance to answer as a large figure emerged from the doorway. When Broots had talked about his brother he had left out how he looked and now they knew why; they wouldn't have believed him otherwise.

Mr. Swallow was nothing if not imposing; standing almost seven feet tall with a build that would make a linebacker green with envy, his presence sent a chill down Miss Parker's spine. Somehow the custom made, dark blue suit he was wearing only helped make him appear more intimidating, a thought that did not bode well with any of them. She was loathed to admit it but he was handsome, although he did have a scar that travelled down the right side of his face. What truly made her blood run cold were his eyes; two ice blue orbs that seemed to suck all the warmth out of the room.

"How did he get the scar?" she asked Broots in a whisper.

"When I hit him with my car," he whispered back in reply. "Strangely, he wasn't angry with me about it, it seemed like he was actually a little impressed."

"Your brother seems to be a very complex man," Sydney noted.

"You don't know the half of it," Broots replied just before his brother got within hearing range.

Mr. Swallow smiled a shark like grin at Broots, "Rufus, how lovely to see you again."

"Brian."

His smile disappeared and his gaze on Broots intensified. "During working hours you'll call me Mr. Swallow or sir."

"How about I call you…"

Sydney cut in before Broots could get himself into more trouble. "Good morning Mr. Swallow, my name is Sydney."

"Ah yes, you're Jarod's nursemaid."

"Actually, I…"

"Listen Syd," Mr. Swallow cut in, "I know what you did and what you've done. I know what you have all done over the years and while many might be impressed, I'm certainly not."

"No listen here birdy…" Miss Parker's rant was cut off by the muzzle of a Luger P-89 brushing against the tip of her nose. It wasn't the first time she'd ever had a gun pointed at her, but she was rarely this close to the gun being used. The thing that actually unnerved her was she didn't even see him move; it was just suddenly there. Someone who could move that fast was not someone to be trifled with.

"I know we've only just met, so you don't know a lot about me, but I have this thing about people making fun of my name. Because we've just met, and we need to work together, I'll let you off just this one time. Be warned though, I won't warn you a second time." With that, the gun he'd been pointing at Miss Parker's head vanished from sight as fast as it appeared.

He stared at them all, his eyes still filled with that cold ferocity but otherwise expressionless as he began to walk past them. They all turned to keep him in view, instinctually knowing to never have their back to him, ever, and then moved to follow him as he made his way through the corridors of The Tower, his destination Miss Parker's office.

As he moved behind Miss Parker's desk, she considered saying something but reconsidered and watched as impassively as possible as he sat down in her chair. He leant forward in the chair, resting his elbows on the desk and touched his fingers together before fixing the same shark-like grin he gave Broots on his face. "Right then, lets get down to business shall we?"

**Sunnydale High School,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Xander was waiting patiently for the computer class to finish, having completed his assignment in the first ten minutes. When he told the others about Mr. Weisstemplar's possible paternal link to him, there had been a barrage of questions thrown at him that he was either unable, or unwilling, to answer yet and wanted to talk to him to get things cleared up one way or the other. While he would prefer it that the teacher was in fact his father, the paranoia borne from both sides of his life ensured that he didn't take anything at face value.

It was at times like this that he would have preferred to know what his father looked like; he had corresponded with him the last few years since his escape from The Centre, but they had never sent any images of each other in case their communications were ever intercepted. Any background information in a photo could be used to trace their location and neither one was willing for The Centre to discover the other's whereabouts.

That all meant that the person teaching them could as easily not be his father, and he wouldn't know for certain until he was alone with him. She wasn't speaking to him yet, but he knew that she would eventually and when she did he'd get the answers he was looking for.

Willow wasn't in class, nor would she be all year; the school board had, during one of their back-slapping sessions, decided to grant her an automatic 'A' as she had taught the class for two semesters. He didn't like to admit it, but in a way he was glad she wasn't there today, he knew that Willow wouldn't be able to act normally around Mr. Weisstemplar no matter how hard she tried now she was aware of the situation. The last thing he needed is for the 'teacher' to be put on guard before his talk, as it would make things that much harder.

The thing he did miss was her support, but Buffy was making up for that. Since their talk last night had broken down the walls that they had built between them, their friendship had gone from strength to strength, even in those short few hours.

When they realised that Xander wasn't going to answer any more questions until he was certain one way or the other, Buffy had called time on the meeting and asked if Xander would walk her home. He was sure that his face would have split in two had his smile got any wider as he wholeheartedly accepted her request.

While they didn't talk much on the way to her house, there wasn't an uncomfortable silence either; they were simply enjoying each other's company after their self-imposed exile from one another.

Something that Xander did pick up on was that there was an extra energy between them that suggested more than just friendship. While he had always felt that way towards her, although not as much near the end of his relationship with Cordelia, he had never seen honest signs that Buffy felt the same.

There had been the love spell incident, where he had just about managed to resist her extremely persuasive come on, but that didn't count due to the reason behind it. It had taken every ounce of self restraint he possessed not to take her up on her offer of opening his 'present', once again thankful for his ability to accurately work out what Buffy would have done to him had he accepted once the spell wore off to ensure that the head on his shoulders and not the one in his pants remained in control.

The other occasion he could remember, but also discounted, was after he had saved her from Teresa by staking the newly turned vampire in the back. There had been a moment when his and Buffy's eyes had locked and he thought that they would kiss, but the moment had passed and nothing happened. He had chalked that up to emotional distress caused by Angelus and didn't think any more about it, although the scenario did repeat itself in one or two dreams, but with a far more positive outcome.

Now however there was neither any magical nor emotional reason to dismiss the glances she'd made towards him or the way her arm had occasionally brushed against his own, each time sending a tingling sensation down his spine. There had been more furtive glances in his direction during class; whenever he caught her she would send him a quick smile before returning to her work.

It was unnerving in a way, as less than twenty-four hours ago she could barely stand to be in the same room as him, and now she was definitely showing signs of interest in him romantically. Of course, the part of his brain that found it unnerving was overruled by the rest of his brain that was elated at the thought that his feelings were starting to be reciprocated.

His inner musings were cut short by the sound of the bell indicating the end of class and the beginning of lunch.

As everybody started packing up their things, Buffy walked over to him. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked concerned.

He smiled at her, his heart happy that she openly showed that she cared once again. "I'll be fine Buff, the reason I'm doing it here is because he won't want to cause a scene in public."

"I can stay if you want."

"It'll go more easily if I do this on my own, trust me."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"You betcha you will."

Buffy smiled at him before leaving, remembering to leave her assignment on the teacher's desk before doing so, which left Xander and Mr. Weisstemplar alone in the classroom.

As Xander packed his things away, he watched as the teacher in question walked over to the door and closed it before locking it and putting the key in his jacket pocket.

"Would you like a Pez?" he asked Xander with a smile.

Xander looked at the Scooby-Doo Pez dispenser in Jarod's hand and repressed a smile as he nodded his assent, taking one of the brick-shaped candies and popping it into his mouth.

"What's with the locking us in thing Mr. Weisstemplar?" he asked, unable to say his surname without feeling the need to shudder.

"I thought that you would want to talk to me in private Alexander, I hope you don't mind."

"Why would I mind the new teacher locking me in his room with him?" he asked sarcastically, not giving anything away just yet. "I'm not sure what you've heard, but I think you might find Larry more receptive to this sort of thing."

"I don't know what you're on about Alexander," Mr. Weisstemplar replied, looking genuinely confused.

"Firstly my name is Xander, no one calls me Alexander that I would willing speak to."

"My apologies Xander. What did you mean that Larry would be more receptive?" he asked, looking confused.

"He's gay, so he would be more willing to have an 'after hours' talk with one of his male teachers."

Mr. Weisstemplar looked at him in shock. "I'm not…"

"Look," Xander said cutting him off, "before you get your panties in any more of a bunch, why don't we cut to the chase alright?" he asked, never really being one to beat around the bush.

"Go right ahead."

"I know you're not really a teacher, but are merely 'pretending'. I know you don't like being 'The Centre' of attention and would really like to keep off the police's radar. I know that because you're here, you're either here to investigate the exceptionally high murder statistics, or you've come to seek me out. How am I doing so far?"

"You're doing just fine," he replied, "but how did you work all that out so quickly, especially as we've never met until now?"

Xander doesn't answer right away, distracted as he was by her confirming his suspicions as to whom he was talking to. He softened his posture and started talking in a far more friendly and relaxed tone.

"Willow is one of my oldest and closest friends; she told me about you after she gave you the tour of the school. You didn't really think it would take me long to figure it out once I heard your surname did you?"

"No," Jarod replied with a smile, "which was the reason I chose it; I knew that you'd recognise the meaning and check me out. I remember when you told me about that conversation you had with your friend's ex-boyfriend, and knew that what he called you would be the best way to get your attention without attracting anyone else's."

"So what brings you to glorious Sunnydale dad?" Xander asked, enjoying using the title with someone who he felt deserved it.

"To begin with it was the crime statistics that makes this town sound like it's in Eastern Europe, but getting the chance to finally meet my son was a bonus." That caused a smile to appear on Xander's face, enjoying having someone call him son without adding 'of a bitch'. "I had hoped to have met you under less covert circumstances, but I am still being chased by the Centre."

"You mean you're allowing yourself to be chased; we both know that if you wanted to you could vanish without a trace and they'd never be able to find you." Jarod had no choice but to agree with what Xander said, as he could quite easily vanish without a trace, but he wasn't willing to do that, at least not yet. "Why do you keep yourself a target when there's no need?" Xander asked, having never quite understood why Jarod would want to maintain contact with a place that had held him captive for most of his natural life.

"There are still people at the Centre that I need to help, one of them your mother, so until they are free of the Centre's influence I shall keep myself a target."

Xander nodded in acknowledgement of that, knowing that he would probably do the same. He'd really like to meet his mother, but he knew that it probably wouldn't go anywhere near as smoothly as this meeting had so far. "Now you're here, you'll be able to meet my friends."

"I was under the impression that they didn't know about your true origins?"

"Let's just say that my interest in you sparked a friends curiosity and they finally twigged that I hadn't lived at the Harris' for quite some time. I told them almost everything last night so they know that you're my real father."

"Almost everything?" Jarod asked with a smirk.

"It's impossible to maintain an air of mystery without keeping something back," he replied with a lop-sided smile.

"I would be honoured to meet your friends."

"Good, they'll be able to shed some light on those death statistics as well."

"You know the reasons behind the figures?" he asked, both surprised and intrigued.

"Yep, have done for a few years now."

"If you've known about it, why have you never told me?" Jarod asked, finding it strange that Xander had kept that from him.

"This is one of situations where it needs to be seen to be believed, even with someone with an imagination like yours."

"I don't understand."

"I know," Xander replied, his tone both sympathetic and a little sad, "but that's gonna change. Tonight, you'll be joining us on a tour of Sunnydale's cemeteries, where you'll get your answers."

"Why not just tell me?" he asked, wanting to get to the truth as soon as possible.

"Do you believe in the supernatural?" Xander asked in response.

Jarod thought for a moment or two before answering. "No."

"In that case I better leave any explanations until tonight, it'll be easier for both of us."

Jarod looked at his son strangely. "Are you suggesting that there's a supernatural reason for the large amount of deaths that have happened here?"

"Of course I am," he responded in a 'duh' tone of voice, "why else would I have asked you believed in the supernatural or not. I don't blame you for not believing, I didn't either until it was right in front of me. I know that until you see for yourself, you won't believe anything I say so there's no point in saying anything more."

"I shall take your word for it, but I highly doubt a visit to a cemetery will bring the answers I'm looking for."

Xander looked at his watch and realised that there wasn't much of lunch left. "While I'd love to continue talking to you about this dad, I seriously need to get some food inside me. Come to the library once schools out today and we'll do our best to answer any questions I'm sure you'll have before we go out on patrol."

"Of course, I look forward to it."

Xander stood there for a few moments, waiting for Jarod to unlock the door, before realising that he wasn't making any move to do so. "Dad, the door?"

Jarod looked at his son for a moment before he realized that he'd locked the door to assure them some privacy. Finally getting the chance to talk to his son had made him forgetful. "Sorry," he said as he unlocked the door.

"Not a problem," Xander replied as he went through the door. "I'll see you later Mr. Weisstemplar," he said formally before making his way down the hall to the canteen, passing a few students on his way.


	6. Chapter Five

_**Chapter Five**_

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots had finished their 'meeting' with Mr. Swallow a couple of hours ago and were now making their way to Miss Parker's house to talk strategy. The moment Mr. Swallow had left them to do whatever sociopaths do, they had quickly agreed that they needed a way to get rid of him, one way or another.

Miss Parker's blood was still boiling so much that Broots thought he could probably fry an egg off of her. Of course that lead him to other thoughts of a more pleasing nature, but he wasn't allowed to revel in them too long as he was knocked down by someone moments later.

"Hey! Watch where you're going you je… Mr. Lyle?"

"Sorry Broots."

The three of them looked at him in shock. It was thought that Mr. Lyle had that particular word removed from his personal vocabulary when he was four.

"Um, don't worry about it," Broots stammered in reply, too shocked to say anything else.

"What's wrong Lyle?" Miss Parker asked, needing to hear some good news right now.

"I've just got word that Mr. Swallow has restricted access to Angelo. No one without his approval can get within thirty feet of him," he growled, finding it hard to maintain his normally calm exterior.

Only two other people had ever been able to get under Lyle's skin like Mr. Swallow had, his sister being one and Jarod being the other. He couldn't really blame Jarod wanting him dead, as he did kill his brother after all, but Jarod has had several opportunities to get revenge but has never pulled the trigger. Whether it was because he couldn't take a life, or because he simply enjoyed torturing him too much Lyle doesn't know, but until Jarod was back under lock and key he wouldn't feel safe.

As for Miss Parker, well, he'd tried to kill her and she'd returned the favour. They disliked each other the moment they met, and it had only gotten worse when they'd found out they were siblings. He no longer wanted her dead, but wouldn't be too upset if she fell foul of someone else's bullet. He knew that if the roles were reversed neither would she.

Miss Parker did feel a little better at the news, as she always did when Lyle was feeling bad, and decided to twist the knife a little. "So the organ grinder has had him monkey taken away, how sad."

"You don't know the half of it sis, he's running roughshod throughout the Centre. He's got to be stopped."

"This coming from the man who said we had to do as he asks or face the consequences," she retorted.

"That was when I thought that you'd be the only one he'd piss off. It's as though he's made it his mission to antagonise every single Centre employee."

"Maybe he has," Sydney said, cutting into the conversation.

"What do you mean Sydney?" Broots asked, knowing that if anyone was able to read a person's intentions it would be him.

Sydney suddenly remembered where they were, and knew that they were constantly being watched. "Let's not have this conversation here, as the walls have ears."

**Sunnydale High School Library,  
Sunnydale, California.**

As Jarod walked into the library, he was surprised that he hadn't been shown it on the tour that Willow had given him. As a teacher, he should be aware of how well stocked the library was on books needed for his subject, so he would have thought that Principal Snyder would have wanted him to know where it was. He had an idea he'd find out why it had been left off of his tour tonight.

The first thing he noticed was that it was the noisiest library he had ever been in; loud upbeat music was being pumped out of a portable stereo at a level that caused it to vibrate slightly in time with the bass line.

The next thing he noticed was the amount of training equipment there was, another thing he'd never expect to see in a high school library. The weapons that he spotted in the book cage was more than a little disconcerting, both because of how many weapons there were and the fact that weapons of any kind were kept on school grounds.

Jarod was almost relieved when he saw that there were in fact books on shelves, at least he was until he got close enough to read their names. When he checked the curriculum, he was certain that Latin and Ancient Greek were not on there.

His presence was finally noticed when another of his students, Buffy if he remembered correctly, appeared from the stacks with an obscenely large pile of books in her arms.

"Hey Mr. Weisstemplar," she said in way of greeting, not looking in the least bit winded despite the amount of weight she was currently holding.

"Good evening Buffy, but please call me Jarod. Is Xander here?" he asked, feeling a little out of place.

"He's waiting for Willow and Oz, Giles is in his office and I've been designated pack horse."

It was then that Jarod realised that he was standing there doing nothing while this young slip of a girl in front of him was bogged down with books. He quickly made his way over and took a few books from the top, surprised by how heavy they were. "Where are my manners," he said apologetically, embarrassed that he hadn't offered his assistance before, "let me help you with them."

She smiled tolerantly at him, knowing that he was unaware of her Slayer status. Of course, Xander did the same thing and he had known for years that she could bench press him with ease. Well she could bench press his weight with ease, but she had found trying to bench press a person harder because it was difficult to get a good grip without hurting them or grabbing onto something she really shouldn't.

She wasn't suspicious of why Mr. Weiss… Jarod was in the library, as Xander had told them he'd asked him to meet with them. He hadn't told them whether he was his father or not, something that had annoyed both her and Willow no end, but she suspected that was why he did it.

He did tell them that one of the reasons that Jarod was in town was due the high death rate in Sunnydale. He knew that if they told him nothing, he'd be in danger of becoming something's lunch and none of them wanted to see that happen. How much they told him was still under debate, but that would be decided tonight.

As they were putting the books on the table, Xander and the others arrived. "Hey guys," she greeted them.

Xander replied on behalf of the trio. "Hey Buff, Jarod."

The Pretender looked confused for a moment why Xander had only called him Jarod and not dad as before, but when he saw him smile slightly and indicate to Willow, he guessed that he hadn't let them in on that particular nugget of information yet.

It was probably a wise course of action now he remembered some of the things Xander had told him about his friends, that they were rather overprotective of him and he wasn't really experienced to deal with that kind of interrogation.

"What's with all the books Buffy?" Willow asked her friend.

"Giles," she replied, which to Willow explained everything so she just nodded.

Jarod could see that Willow kept looking at him, trying but failing to hide the fact. "Good evening Willow," he said to her.

"Hi Mr. Weisstemplar." she replied sheepishly, knowing she had been caught looking at him.

Jarod began to think that his choice of surname this time round was not wise, but it was a necessary evil. "Please, call me Jarod."

"Um, okay."

Ever since Xander told them about whom he might be, Willow had been having trouble thinking of anything else. She was still a little upset that Xander had kept so much from her, basically lying to her from the moment they had met, but she could, reluctantly, understand why he had done it.

While Xander had studiously ignored their attempts to prise out of him whether Jarod was his father or not, there was something in his eyes that made her think that he was. In fact when she looked Jarod in the eyes it was as though she was looking into the eyes of her friend, but an older version of him.

A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Oz looking at her with his caringly stoic expression and realised that she'd zoned out. She turned back to Jarod and did the introductions. "This is my boyfriend Oz."

"A pleasure to meet you," Jarod said to the strangely silent man.

"Hey."

"Don't mind Oz," Xander said cutting in, "he's a great believer in 'less is more' when it comes to the art of conversation."

That comment got him a slap to the shoulder by Willow, even though she agreed with him, and an ever so slightly raised eyebrow from Oz.

**Miss Parker's Residence,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Miss Parker, Lyle, Sydney and Broots were all sitting in Miss Parker's living room. She couldn't remember the last time there were so many people in her house, although it was probably when her mother was still alive.

While she'd come to tolerate both Sydney and Broots' presence in her day-to-day life, being so close to Lyle made her come out in hives so she was anxious to get some distance between them. "Okay Sydney, we're all here. Now what was it that you didn't want to say in The Centre?" she asked, her tone indicating that she wouldn't tolerate his usual cryptic self.

"We've all realised that Mr. Swallow's tactics are not conducive with the way we do things here at the Centre."

"You're right about that," Broots interjected, "Brian makes Raines look like a pussycat."

Miss Parker threw Broots a disgusted look, "That was an image I could have done without."

"Indeed," Sydney said in agreement, although a small smile was present on his face. "Mr. Swallow seems a poor choice by the Triumvirate to retrieve Jarod, someone they still believe to be a valuable asset. I have no doubt that he will adopt a shoot first, ask questions later policy, a policy that will invariably end up with either Jarod or himself on a slab in The Centre morgue."

"Not seeing a problem with either scenario," Lyle commented with a smile.

"I do," Miss Parker immediately replied. "I might not like monkey boy, but I don't want to see him dead. I want to see him back in his cell at the Centre where he belongs. He's the best Pretender we have, probably the best we'll ever have, which is why he's evaded us for as long as he has."

Sydney nodded in agreement, "Jarod is too important to lose, and lose him we will under Mr. Swallow's leadership. Onto my previous point, perhaps the Triumvirate want to keep us all off balance, focussing on Mr. Swallow and his controversial working practises, while they carry out some scheme or other that would damage The Centre in some way."

No one could fault Sydney's logic, as it sounded just like the sort of thing the Triumvirate would do. "When daddy hears about this…" Miss Parker growled but was quickly cut off by her brother.

"We can't tell him."

"Why the hell not?" she demanded angrily.

"Plausible deniability. When the proverbial hits the fan, which it will one way or the other, the Triumvirate will have him up in front of Motumbo. We need to make sure that when they 'debrief' him, they don't find it necessary to sanction him."

The colour drained from her face at the thought of something happening to her father, so she reluctantly agreed with Lyle. "Alright, we won't tell him, but we do need to figure out a way to remove Mr. Swallow from the picture. Any ideas?"

They all looked at each other for a few moments before Broots cleared his throat, "I have one."

**Sunnydale High School Library,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Giles could hear the others from inside his office, but was reluctant to join them. The reason behind it was that he was conflicted over meeting with Jarod.

Xander had assured them all that he was a good person, and that travelled the country righting wrongs in the 'normal' world. He had no reason to doubt Xander's word; if Giles could be sure of one thing, it was that Xander was extremely protective of his friends and wouldn't bring someone into their group if he didn't trust them implicitly.

His main problem was that Jarod had been brought in as Jenny's replacement, and that had caused him to feel animosity towards the man. It wasn't the man's fault, Jarod hadn't even known her as far as Giles was aware, but he couldn't help the way he felt.

Then there was the added factor of his possible paternal link to Xander. Giles had begun seeing Buffy, Willow and Xander as his own children and was protective of them all, even if he wasn't always good at showing it, and he wanted to ensure that Jarod didn't hurt Xander in any way.

Giles had heard stories of Xander's home life, and he'd had to physically restrain himself from going and having a 'talk' with his father over the subject. Hearing that Tony Harris was not actually Xander's father had been a surprise certainly, but a very welcome one.

Xander deserved to have parents that appreciated him as the fine young man he was becoming. If Jarod was indeed Xander's father, he hoped that he would give Xander what he needed, and woe betide him if he didn't.

It was for Xander's benefit and not his own that caused him to rise from his seat and leave his office, causing everyone in the library to turn in his direction.

"Hey Giles," Xander greeted the Watcher with a smile. "Jarod, I'd like you to meet Rupert Giles, Librarian and mentor to us degenerates. Giles, I'd like you to meet Jarod Wei… actually what is our last name?" he asked his father, garnering gasps from the others in the room.

A wave of sadness washed over Jarod's face, once again realising how little he truly knew about his own family. "I don't know."

"Oh… oww! What was that for Wills?" he asked his friend as he rubbed the back of his head.

"That was for not telling me that Jarod was your dad!" she shouted.

"Oh, okay then."

Buffy started looking from Jarod to Xander and back again. "You know, I can see a family resemblance."

Jarod and Xander looked at each other before turning to Buffy, slight smiles on both of their faces. "You can?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah," she replied, "it's in the eyes."

Giles looked and couldn't help but agree with Buffy's statement. He was a firm believer in the theory that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and over the years had become adept at reading a persons character by looking into their eyes.

When he looked into the eyes of Jarod and Xander, he saw similar traits; their need to help others, their desire to find their real family and the pain they'd endured in their endeavours. He could also see their fierce loyalty to those they cared about, and their willingness to do whatever was necessary to protect them, although Giles believed that Xander might be willing to go a little further than Jarod.

He might still keep a close eye on Jarod, but he wouldn't hold any ill will toward the man any longer, unless of course he did something to court it. "It's a pleasure to meet you Jarod," he said to him, extending his hand in greeting.

Jarod could see that the other man had been deciding on whether to trust him or not, so when he extended his hand, he knew he'd made his decision. He stepped forward and grasped Giles' hand in his own, shaking it once. "And I you Mr. Giles."

"Call me Giles, everyone does."

"Now that we're all here," Xander said, drawing everyone's attention, "I think it's time we get this show on the road."

"You still haven't explained how traipsing around cemeteries is going to explain why so many people die in this town," Jarod pointed out, his desire to get to the truth returning.

"And I've already told you that you won't believe our explanations without proof. Come with us; think of it as a field trip/guided tour. We'll show the sights that all the tourists flock to, not to mention helping with your social skills."

"What is wrong with my social skills?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"When was the last time you did anything socially, not including when you're working?" Xander asked in reply.

"Well…"

"If you have to think about it," Xander said, cutting in "it's been too long. Come on, you know you want to."

"Okay," Jarod agreed, "you lead I follow."

"Actually, Buffy leads and we follow."

"Why Buffy?" Jarod asked, his tone not sexist in any way but simply curious.

Xander was about to explain, but knew that it would be pointless just yet, so he just sighed and hoped that he'd understand. "That's another thing you need to see to believe."

"Is there anything you _can_ tell me before we go?" the Pretender asked, getting a little impatient.

"Yes."

Xander walked into the book cage, returning a few seconds later with a stake and a bottle of holy water. "Carry these," he told him, handing the items over. "It doesn't matter if you think you need them, I think you need them and would feel safer knowing that you had them."

Jarod could see the sincerity in his son's eyes; for whatever reason, carrying a small vial of water and a sharpened piece of wood would make him feel better. He took them from him and could see the relief appear on Xander's face. "I hope that by the end of the night I get some form of explanation."

"By the end of the night you'll have more explanations than you can handle, and that's a guarantee."

**Miss Parker's Residence,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

"So we're all in agreement?" Miss Parker asked the other occupants of her living room. They had all been discussing Broots' plan, working out all the pros and cons, and it was time for them to decide one way or another.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this," replied Lyle, "but it's the best plan we've got. I'm in."

"It's the only plan we've got," Miss Parker reminded him.

"I personally believe that it will work."

"Thanks Sydney," Broots responded to the vote of confidence.

"Now as much as I've enjoyed this little get together," Miss Parker said sarcastically, "I need some rest and I can't do that with you all her, so get out."

"You say the nicest things sis."

"Don't make me shoot you Lyle, it's a bitch to get blood out of the carpet."

"Tommy's seemed to come out alright."

Instantly her face was bright red with fury, her eyes brimming with tears. "Get out!" she screamed,

Even Lyle knew he had hit way below the belt on that part and was genuinely feeling sorry. "I know you won't believe me, but…"

"I don't care what you have to say, get out!"

Lyle and the others left without another word, Miss Parker slamming the door behind them. Once she heard their cars pull away, she sank to the ground and began to sob uncontrollably.

**Veritas Cemetery,  
Sunnydale, California.**

The group were walking through the cemetery, Buffy in front followed by Xander, Jarod, Willow and Oz. They didn't normally go on patrol en masse, but this was the first time that Xander had gone out on patrol with Buffy since 'The Lie', not to mention this is the night that Jarod got his introduction to things that go bump in the night, so it was a special occasion.

As Buffy got closer to a newly dug grave, the resting place of one Ben Matlock, she decided to wait there for a while. He was one of the suspicious deaths that they had found in the obituary section that could rise tonight. She considered continuing on, but she couldn't run the risk of him rising and feeding on someone if they did.

"Why are we stopping?" Jarod asked.

"This is one of the latest people on that list of people that have died of either an animal attack or killed by 'Gang members on PCP'," Buffy replied. "Both of those are nothing but codes for the true reason; he had been killed by a vampire."

"A vampire?" he said sceptically. "Surely you can't be serious."

"I'm very serious," she replied, "and don't call me Shirley."

"You're confusing me now Buffy, I didn't call you Shirley."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You've never seen 'Airplane'?"

"I have seen and flown in several actually."

Xander decided to interject in his father's behalf. "Dad's only really been in the real world for a couple of years Buff, I doubt he was allowed to go to the nearest cinema to watch a movie."

Although Xander had told them last night how the Centre treated Pretenders, it hadn't really registered just what it meant. Knowing that even little things like watching a movie had been denied him made them all feel for Jarod.

"That's so sad," Willow commented with a forlorn expression.

"Do not feel bad Willow," Jarod told her in a soothing tone, able to see the sadness on both hers and Buffy's faces, "I might not have experienced as much of life as other people my age, but I am making up for it now."

"He eats more junk food than I do," Xander interjected, trying to lighten the mood. "Well that's not really all that difficult as I don't really eat much in the way of junk food anymore."

"That's not true," Willow immediately retorted, "I see you eating Twinkies all the time."

"Most of the time, the Twinkies that I'm eating are ones I've made myself that are really vitamin and mineral supplements."

"You don't even eat Twinkies anymore?" she said incredulously, suddenly unable to recognise the person standing in front of her.

"I do from time to time, but as a treat like they're intended to be. I need to be at my best to be of most help to Buffy and gorging on snacks isn't conducive to staying that way."

Buffy knew that Xander had gone through a lot of changes, changes that he had kept hidden from them, but she had no idea he had changed so much. It just didn't feel right for there to be a Xander that ate right. Of course that feeling was warring with the tingly feeling she got when he said that he'd changed for her. it reminded her of the film 'As Good As It Gets' where Jack Nicholson told Helen Hunt that she made him want to be a better man.

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of Ben's arm shooting out of his grave.

"What the…" Jarod began but trailed off. He simply had nothing to say.

"That, Dad," Xander said softly, smiling sadly at his father, "is a vampire rising."

Jarod watched transfixed as the vampire, for he knew it could be nothing else, pulled himself out of his grave. He could see that as the vampire spotted that he had company, his face morphed from his normal human features to a more animalistic guise; ridges appeared above his eyes, his eyes turned yellow and his canines extended.

Once the vampire was free of the confines of his grave, he went to lunge at Buffy as she was closest to him, and Jarod moved on instinct to intercept him. He absently wondered why Xander and the others hadn't done anything to help her, but he quickly focussed on tackling the vampire.

He grabbed the vamp by the arm in hopes of slowing him down, but quickly found himself soaring through the air as the vampire threw him like a rag doll. His knowledge of martial arts came into play as he rolled through the fall and sprang back to his feet almost immediately.

He was surprised to find just how far away he was, the vampire had thrown him at least twenty feet. What surprised him even more was watching Buffy as she fought the vampire with ease, blocking every blow sent her way and making it look effortless.

Within seconds the vampire was on the floor and Buffy drove the piece of wood she had on her into his chest, Jarod's medical knowledge telling him that it must have gone through the heart. A moment later the vampire exploded into a could of dust, signalling the end of it's existence.

Jarod walked up to the group of teens dumbstruck by what he had just witnessed. Buffy smiled at him, the same sad smile his son had sent his way only a minute ago, and he realised that they all knew that they had just helped to completely change his view of the world.

"So Jarod," she said, "are you ready for our explanations now?"

**Road to Hell Motel,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Faith stumbled into her room battered and bruised from her battle, knowing that even with her enhanced healing it'll be several days before she was back to 100. Wincing as she took her jacket off, as a Kaliff Demon had distracted her long enough for a vamp to get their claws into her.

She had been upset that she hadn't found Buffy or her Watcher yet and needed to release some tension, so she had followed a couple of vamps into this bar called the Alibi Room.

She had been surprised to find that it was a demon bar, but had quickly used it to her advantage. She walked up to the pool table, picked up one of the cues and staked a vamp before anyone could say or do anything. This of course started a brawl, one that she had won, but by only the slimmest of margins.

She'd had to stop halfway to pop her right shoulder back in and was having trouble breathing due to the several cracked ribs she got when thrown over the bar. Add that to the bumps, cuts and bruises that she was sure covered her body and she had definitely seen better days.

If she hadn't been in so much pain she probably would have realised that she wasn't alone in her room. As she went to turn the lamp on, it was turned on for her and realised that three vampires were standing in front of her.

She went for the stake tucked into her belt, but she was still feeling groggy from her previous fight and didn't see the baseball bat until it was too late and crumpled to the ground.

The last thing she saw before the blackness claimed her was the wide beaming smile on the lead vamps face.

**Sunnydale High School Library,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Buffy, Xander and the others had returned from their patrol, and Jarod was still slightly shell-shocked from what he had seen. They had continued patrolling the cemetery after Buffy had staked the newly risen vampire, ending up staking seven vampires in all. Buffy hadn't staked them all, Xander had staked two and the combination of Oz and Willow had staked another.

Jarod had been greatly impressed with the way his son had fought; the first vampire he had staked had come for him and it had taken Xander a minute to gain the upper hand. He could see that both Willow and Buffy were looking very anxious as they watched him battle the vampire, but had stayed back on his request.

What had shocked Jarod was Xander's ferocity when he attacked the second vamp that he had staked. It had somehow managed to sneak up on Buffy and had hit her on the back of the head, and instantly Xander was there and the vampire could do nothing except attempt to block the relentless assault coming his way, and he had looked almost happy when Xander had finally staked him.

He watched as Xander blinked a couple of times after the vampire turned to dust, and it looked as though he was snapping out of a trance.

From their conversations, Jarod knew that Xander had feelings for Buffy, but seeing the way he had reacted to her being injured Jarod knew without a shadow of a doubt that he loved her.

Whether she felt the same he was uncertain, but as Jarod intended to stay a while he made a mental note to find out.

Right now he was waiting for Giles to begin explaining what he saw tonight. He now knew that vampires existed, it was impossible to doubt his own eyes, but now that he knew that much he needed to know more. His son had been dealing with these things for years and that thought alone frightened him more than he had felt in a long time. He needed to know as much as possible, if not to help but at least to fully understand the world his son existed in.

"The world is older that you know Jarod, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise."

"He loves doing this bit," Xander said cutting in, "it gives his life meaning."

"If I can continue?" Giles asked pointedly, giving Xander 'the look'.

"Of course, go right ahead," replied magnanimously.

"For untold eons, Demons walked the earth; made it their home… their Hell. In time they lost their purchase on this reality, and the way was made for the mortal animals. For Man."

"Or woman."

"Yes Buffy," Giles said exasperatedly to his charge's comment, "or woman. What remains of the Old Ones are vestiges: certain magicks, certain creatures, the most prevalent being the Vampire. The books tell that the last Demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed – infected – by the Demon's soul. He bit another, and another… and so they walk the earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out and the Old Ones to return."

"And Buffy is?" Jarod asked, knowing that Buffy wasn't a normal teenage girl. Of course, he wasn't considered a normal man, so he wasn't exactly perturbed by it.

Before Giles had a chance to respond, Buffy and Willow began speaking simultaneously. "As long as there have been vampires, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil."

"Of course thanks to Xander," Buffy continued, "that isn't exactly the case anymore."

"Why is that?" Jarod asked, always eager to hear more about his son.

"He saved my life, well gave it back to me actually. Long story short I drowned and he gave me CPR. Because I had died, even if it was only for a few moments, another Slayer was called."

"Oh. Where is she?" he asked.

He could feel the sombre mood that everyone developed at his question, and immediately knew something bad had happened.

"Um, she died last year," Buffy replied softly, "killed by a vamp called Drusilla."

"I'm sorry for your loss. I don't wish to sound insensitive, but does this mean that there is another Slayer somewhere?" he wondered.

"From what the Council have told me," Giles replied, "another Slayer was called somewhere on the East Coast."

That was news to everyone, especially Buffy who glared at her Watcher. "Why did you never tell me?" she asked angrily.

"I didn't keep it from you on purpose," he immediately informed her, "I simply forgot to mention it. There has been a lot of things to distract me over the last several months."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, knowing that she had gotten a little carried away, "I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."

"That's quite alright Buffy. I highly doubt we'll see her anytime soon in any case."

"Why not?" Xander asked before anyone else could.

"Her Watcher and I have… history, and I'm sure that Linda would rather run through a bramble patch in her birthday suit, then jumping into a pool of TCP before giving me, and by association you Buffy, any assistance."

"And what kind of… history do you and this Linda have G-Man?" Xander asked with a devilish grin.

"Wait, G-Man? Do you work for the government?" Jarod asked worriedly, as attention from the government was the last thing he needed.

"Not at all," Giles snorted, "it's just that Xander enjoys annoying me past the limits of my patience and the moniker he's given me is just one of the ways he does it."

"You don't really think I'd do something like that to you?" Xander asked his father, feeling a little hurt by the thought.

"Of course not son, it's just that the only other occasion I've heard someone being called G-Man…" Jarod trailed off, but Xander knew what he meant.

"Understood. By the way Giles, I notice you haven't answered my question yet."

"You're right, I haven't. All I can say is that I highly doubt we'll have a second Slayer in Sunnydale for quite a while."

A sudden crash caused everyone to jump as a body impacted onto the table from the skylight above. Although bruised and bloody, Giles recognised her face from the picture he had been sent by the Council.

"Of course, I could be mistaken."


	7. Chapter Six

_**Chapter Six**_

**Broots' Residence,  
Dover, Delaware.**

Broots trudged wearily into his house, thankful that another day at The Centre was over, especially considering whom he was now having to deal with. After hanging up his coat and throwing his bag under the side table, he walked into the living room to find his daughter playing Scrabble with her babysitter.

She sensed his presence immediately and jumped out of her chair to greet him. "Daddy!"

"Hi sweetpea," he replied warmly, leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead, "sorry I'm so late."

"Don't worry daddy," she told him easily, knowing he didn't have much choice in how long he worked, "Emily kept me company."

Broots turned to the lady in question and smiled widely at her, his eyes brightening slightly at the sight of her. "Thanks for looking after her for me Em."

"It was my pleasure Ru," she replied, blushing slightly at the way he was looking at her, "you know that."

Debbie could see the way her dad and Emily looked at each other and knew there was something going on, but didn't say anything. Her dad needed someone in his life and while she would prefer it to be Miss Parker, she was realistic enough to know that wasn't going to happen. Miss Parker liked her dad, she knew that for certain, but their relationship was more like what she'd seen in brothers and sisters at school.

She did like Emily and always enjoyed it whenever she looked after her when her dad rang to say he was working late, so she wasn't upset about the development, just that she hadn't been told yet.

She suddenly yawned and realised just how late it was. She normally didn't stay up late, but she could never really sleep properly until she knew her dad was back. Emily knew that and allowed her to stay up, but only on the understanding that she went to bed once he got back.

"Debbie, you need to get yourself ready for bed," Emily reminded her, expecting an argument but found herself surprised when Debbie nodded her head tiredly.

"Okay," she mumbled, exhaustion creeping up on her quickly. She went on tiptoes and kissed Broots on the cheek. "Night daddy."

"Night pumpkin."

They watched her go upstairs and waited for her bedroom door to close before saying anything.

"Any progress?" Emily asked as she drew closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Some," he answered as his hands instinctively went to her waist. "Having Brian around isn't going to make anything easier you know."

"He doesn't know that you're…" she trailed off, wary of speaking aloud despite knowing that the house was clear of listening devices.

He shook his head. "No, there's no way I'd be alive if he did. His arrival does have one advantage."

"And that is?" she asked.

"The others are too preoccupied with him to notice what I'm doing. Add to that the idea we've, well I've cooked up, there should be enough distractions to bring our plan forward."

"I remember what you've said about your brother," she said worriedly, "I can't see there being many ways of keeping him out of the way apart from killing him."

"There isn't," he agreed with a sigh.

"And you're okay with that?"

"Of course not," he confessed, the plotting of his brother's death weighing heavily on him, "but as you said, there aren't many other options if any. There is an executive order out on him, so I'm not doing anything outside of my remit. Anyway, I doubt I'll be the one that pulls the trigger, he's gotten under Miss Parker's skin and that's a dangerous place to be, unless you're a certain Pretender of course."

"Jealous?" she teased.

"No, any feeling I have for Miss Parker are purely platonic, despite what I allow other to think. I have my eye on someone else actually."

"Anyone I know?" she asked coyly.

"Yes actually," he replied, kissing her softly.

"Speaking of Jarod," she said pulling away from him slightly, "with everything that's going on, will he be okay?" she asked, worried that he might get caught in the crossfire.

"Don't worry," he soothed, sounding nothing like the person he portrayed at The Centre, "if everything goes to plan he'll get the freedom he's been wanting all his life and the Centre will go down for good."

Emily checked her watch and winced slightly at the lateness of the hour. "I better get going," she said with a sigh, wanting to spend a little more time with him, "Dad's going to start worrying about me."

"That isn't something I want to happen, I've seen your father when he's angry and I don't want that anger pointed at me."

"Be careful Ru," she warned, indicating what he was doing at The Centre, "you know the Company won't help you if the proverbial hits the fan."

"I knew that when I started this Em, but I've come too far to stop now." He escorted her to the door and handed her a large manila envelope from the drawer of the side table. "Give these to your mother next time you see her with my regards."

"I will." She leaned in and kissed him briefly but passionately on the lips. "I'll see you soon," she said softly before grabbing her coat and reluctantly leaving.

"Not soon enough," he replied with a sigh.

**Sunnydale High School Library,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"Does he know what he's doing?" Buffy asked Xander, watching the professional and efficient manner in which Jarod was assessing the still unconscious girl's injuries.

"He's a Pretender Buff," he replied as though it were obvious, "of course he knows what he's doing."

"You could do that as well?"

"Yep."

"Cool."

"I thought so."

It had been half an hour since their guest had decided to join them, and she still hadn't come to. After dealing with the vamps that had decided to follow her down, both Jarod and Xander had gone over to check on her condition.

"We need to get her to a hospital," Jarod said with urgency as he began assessing her injuries.

"That's not wise or necessary Dad."

"Why the hell not?" he demanded.

"Because going by Giles' comment as she arrived, she's the new Slayer on the block."

"Yes, she is," Giles interjected, wiping his glasses. "Her name is Faith Lehane and as far as I am aware, she was born and bred in Boston. The Council detected her Calling a couple of days after Kendra's death and Linda Gi… Beckett was sent to find her a couple of days later. By all accounts, she had taken to her status as Slayer rather well and was making quite a dent in the Boston demon population. Of course, Linda neglected to mention that Boston has a relatively small demon presence, but that's Linda all over."

Xander, Willow and Buffy exchanged looks at the way Giles talked about Faith's Watcher, all realising that there was some animosity between the two

"She's still severely injured Mr. Giles, Xander, and I do not feel right in keeping her away from the place where she can be given the best treatment," Jarod told them firmly, his experience of being a doctor coming through in his mannerisms and speech.

"Slayer's heal at an increased rate, far faster than normal," Giles explained, trying to convey the situation. "By morning she will not be anywhere near as injured as she is now and will no doubt be completely healed in the next few days. Most people in Sunnydale turn a blind eye to the abnormal, but they would find it extremely difficult to ignore what they'd see as a medical miracle."

Jarod's eyes became unfocused and for a moment Giles looked concerned, but Xander's shake of his head indicated that he was fine. "It's a Pretender thing. He's going through all the possible scenarios of what would happen if we took her to the hospital."

"Do you get a similar expression?" Giles enquired, having never seen it on Xander's face before.

"I tend to close my eyes first," Xander replied in way of explanation. "That's why I was always in trouble for sleeping in class; instead of being asleep I was running sims in my head. Dad's never really had to hide his abilities the way I have, as it was The Centre that taught him how to harness them in the first place."

Jarod's eyes regained their focus and he looked from his son to Giles a couple of times before speaking. "She still has several injuries that I'd feel better if I treated, but I agree that taking her to the hospital might not be the best idea."

While Willow and Jarod treated Faith, Willow wanting to improve her triage skills, Xander and Buffy were left with the task of finding out what the deal was between Giles and Linda.

"You don't like her very much do you?" Buffy asked Giles. On seeing his confusion, she elaborated. "Linda I mean, you don't like her."

"Quite the contrary actually," he replied, his tone turning sad, "she doesn't like me. It took me a while to realise it, but I found that the divorce really made it hit home."

"Wait, divorced? You guys were married?" Buffy asked in complete shock, never once thinking that Giles had gotten within a mile of walking down the aisle, as he just didn't seem the type.

"Yes," he replied simply.

"That's it? That's all you're gonna tell us? I don't think so!" she exclaimed.

Seeing that this could get very bad very fast, Xander decided to interject on Giles' behalf, especially considering the look the older man was sending Buffy's way. "Buffy, don't jump down my throat about this, unless you want to of course, but Giles has no obligation to explain the ins and outs of his relationship with Linda."

"Of course he does!" she yelled indignantly.

"Why?" he asked simply.

It was then that Buffy realised that there wasn't a single reason why he should; she just didn't like the thought of people keeping things from her, especially people she cared about. "Well, uh, he just does!"

"Why didn't you say so before? That clears it right up for me," Xander replied sarcastically. "While I agree that it would be nice to hear all the juicy details, we won't unless Giles decides otherwise."

"Thank you Xander," Giles said while pinching the bridge of his nose, "I think."

"It's not fair," Buffy whined, "I never get to find out anything!"

Xander just looked at her like she said Pauly Shore just won Best Actor at the Oscars. "Last night you found out I was created in a laboratory by a clandestine organization, that I'm one of the smartest people on the planet and Jarod over there is my biological father. Doesn't that count as finding something out?"

"You haven't told me who your biological mother is," she replied, trying to find some way of winning the argument.

"You're right, I haven't."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Who is she?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?" she asked impatiently.

"Because I think she has a right to know first, don't you?"

"How could she not know," she asked confused, "I haven't gone through it myself, but I'm guessing that labour isn't something that's easy to forget."

"I should bloody hope you haven't," Giles muttered under his breath, although not low enough to escape Buffy's enhanced hearing, which caused her to send a withering glare his way.

"I was created in a lab Buff," he reminded her once again, hating to keep bringing up what was still a painful thing to acknowledge, "I was literally a test tube baby, there was no labour. She has no idea that her DNA was used to create me, and until she does I'm not telling anyone else."

Further conversation was cut off by a groan coming from the raven haired Slayer.

"Ohh… did anyone catch the licence of the truck that hit me?" she asked groggily.

"Miss, are you alright?" Jarod asked, wanting to know if he had missed any injuries.

"Do I look like I'm alright?" she asked angrily, wincing as she did. She was starting to be more lucid and started to realise that she wasn't in a hospital, but what looked like a library.

"Actually you look half left," Willow replied, hoping to lighten the mood slightly but realising immediately that she needed to work on her punning skills.

"… Whatever, I'm outta here."

Faith attempted to get up, but found herself being pushed back down onto the table. Between the injuries she'd suffered at the hands of those vamps and at the demon bar, not to mention the obvious concussion she had received landing so heavily, she was unable to fight back and reluctantly relented, if only to ensure that she didn't injure herself more.

"Not yet Faith," Xander said softly but firmly, knowing that she shouldn't be moving around yet, even if she was a Slayer.

"Who are you and how the hell do you know who I am?" she asked angrily, although Xander detected a hint of panic and fear in her voice. Seeing so many people looking down at her made her feel a little closed in and that was not something she enjoyed so she tried again to get up, only to have Buffy stop her this time. Knowing that there was no way of getting away, she lied back down but glared contemptuously at them all.

"Wow, a hostile little thing, aren't ya?" Xander replied lightly. Seeing her about to make another remark, he cut in. "Before you get your panties in a bunch, my name's Xander and the stuffy looking guy here in tweed is Rupert Giles…"

"Buffy Summers Watcher," she finished, recognising him from a photo Linda had shown her, "I know. Linda told me all about you."

"I'm sure none of it placed me in a favourable light," he commented dryly, knowing there was a greater chance of Tim Henman winning Wimbledon than there was of Linda saying something complimentary about him.

"Naval lint got a better rep than you in her eyes."

Giles noticed the past tense she used, and the flash of pain that crossed her face when talking about Linda, and knew that something had happened. "Faith, what happened to Linda?" he asked, his voice hitching slightly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, unable to hide the pain she felt, both physically and emotionally.

"You spoke about her in the past tense. What happened?" he pleaded.

"Kakistos happened," she told him, her tone now devoid of all emotion.

"Good lord, Kakistos?" he gasped.

"Giles, who's this kissing toast guy?" Buffy asked, realising that whatever could get a 'good lord' out of him couldn't be good.

Seeing that Giles was still in a slight state of shock, Xander decided to answer for him. "Kakistos is believed to be the oldest 'living' vampire in history; he makes the Master a child in comparison. He is so old that he can no longer shift from human to vamp, his hands have turned into hooves and his skin has become thicker. It's believed he has a higher resistance to holy water and crosses and normal stakes don't seem to penetrate his hide."

"Doesn't sound like someone I'd like to face any time soon."

"He isn't," Faith agreed, her tone still monotonous. "We found out he was in Boston, so I decided to go and beat on him some then stake him. Turned out I got the beating instead, I barely got two shots in. When I woke up I was chained to a wall, Linda chained up beside me. He releases her, forces her to stand no more than five feet away from me before he ripped her apart. I watched the life fade from here eyes and could do nothing as he tossed her aside like yesterday's trash. He beat on me some more and when I came too again I was in an alley. I went to my crib, got my shit together and made my way here. Linda always said that no matter what she thought of you, if anything happened to her you were the one I had to come find, you and Buffy."

Giles indicated that the other move back so it was just himself and Faith. Seeing her wariness, he slowly reached out and takes her hand in his, squeezing gently. "I'm very sorry for your loss Faith. While our relationship was… strained, I had at one time loved Linda dearly, and would never wish anything like what happened on her."

"Thank you," she replied softly, unable to ignore the sincerity of his words or the pain in his eyes.

"If you are willing, I would be honoured to be your Watcher. The Council may well send a rep… someone to assist you, but until such time if there is anything I can do, please do not hesitate to ask."

Once again, Faith was unable to hear anything but sincerity in his voice and knew that he meant what he said. "Um… thanks G, I'll do that." She wasn't comfortable with people wanting to help her, unless there was something in it for them, but she could tell that he wasn't expecting anything in return and that unnerved her.

"I take it that this Kakistos has followed you," Xander asked.

"I wasn't sure, but it was his right hand man that lead the beat down I just took so I'd say so."

"Well in that case we better start thinking of a way of killing the bastard; no one gets to hurt my friends without repercussions."

"Who said I was your friend?"

"I think I just did," Xander replied, pretending to be confused. "I guess you could say I'm pretty good judge of character, a family trait, and I know that I would be happy to consider you a friend."

"How are we going to kill a vampire that can resist stakes to the heart and was able to overpower a Slayer?" Willow asked, worried about how they would survive.

Xander looked at his dad and smiled, a matching one appearing on Jarod's face. "I'm sure we'll think of something."

**Mr. Swallow's Residence,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Mr. Swallow stood in front of a videophone, the silhouette of his boss visible on the screen. "Report."

"Everything is going as planned sir," he informed him formally.

"Excellent, see that it stays that way. The Senior Partners are taking special interest in this Mr. Swallow and they do not take failure lightly."

"Understood sir," he replied, knowing exactly what would happen to him if he didn't succeed.

"How many times have I told you not to call me sir, call me Hamilton."


	8. Chapter Seven

_**Chapter Seven**_

**En Route to the Road To Hell Motel,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"You didn't have to come with you know," Faith told Giles quietly.

"I know that Faith, but I wanted to."

Faith and Giles were in his 'classic' car, making their way to her motel room to collect her things. Once she had mentioned last night that she had been ambushed in her room, they had all insisted that she could no longer stay there, as it was too dangerous.

She tried to disagree with them, but she really didn't want to stay there anyway and when she saw the genuine concern in all their eyes, she was too shocked to say any more. Apart from Linda, she hadn't really had anyone in her life that truly cared what happened to her and it was a little overwhelming.

Giles, Xander and Buffy had all volunteered to have her stay with them, but once Buffy had rung her mom and told her the situation the decision had been taken out of her hands, as Joyce had turned up at the library fifteen minutes later and simply told her she was staying with them and that was the end of it.

After drinking a foul smelling and even fouler tasting drink that Giles had said would help speed up her healing, Buffy helped her to Joyce's car and they made their way home. Home. She'd only spent one night there and she already considered it her home. Before last night she'd believed in the Paul Young approach to accommodation, as her mom had never lived in the same place for very long even if they never left Boston.

She had been initially mistrusting of Buffy's mom, but Joyce seemed to have this aura about her that just made you trust her, and she soon felt completely comfortable around her. She still wasn't 100 comfortable around Buffy, but Linda had once told her that might happen if they ever met, as they were both the Slayer and would feel slightly competitive towards each other whether they wanted to or not. It wasn't as though she had any beef with her, as she and Buffy had traded stories almost all might, although Buffy had plenty more than her, it was just that there was this thought at the back of her mind that wanted her to prove that she was the dominant female in the group.

Faith had woken up this morning at the rising of the sun, just like she'd done every day since she had been Called, and had felt much better than she had the night before, silently thanking Giles for the boost. There was a moment of disorientation that came from waking up in a strange room, but once she'd remembered what happened the previous night she calmed down.

The smell of food beckoned her downstairs shortly after waking, and she had made her way down into the kitchen, where she'd had found a killer breakfast waiting for her courtesy of Joyce, and for the first time in a long time felt bloated from eating so much.

Not wanting to be alone all day, she had decided to walk with Buffy to school. She wasn't enrolled, something that Joyce had been adamant on changing, but she figured that she could pass the time by training in the library if nothing else.

She was starting to be a little worried that the drink Giles gave her wasn't just to increase her healing but to change the way she thought. She'd never felt so… happy she guessed was the closest to it; although she'd been happy around Linda, the fact that she still lived with her crack whore of a mother did put a downer on things. Here in Sunnydale, Faith not only felt free because she didn't have to hide who she was, she also had a circle of people that all understood what it was like to live in the world she lived in, with the knowledge that every night could well be your last.

Getting to the library, Giles reminded her that she hadn't collected her things from the motel yet, and that it would be wise to do it before sunset. She was initially going to go by herself, but Giles had soon nixed that idea and had said kindly but firmly that he was going to go with her, leading to now, where they were walking up to where she'd been staying since she arrived in Sunnydale.

As they walked into the room, not needing a key as the door was still open from last night, she made short work of collecting her things, throwing them all into her bag. Giles shook his head sadly at how little she had; it just didn't feel right to him that all her worldly possessions could fit inside a single rucksack.

"Is that everything?" he asked softly.

Faith took another quick look around the room, more for show than anything else, before sighing sadly. "Yeah, that's everything. Pretty pitiful huh?"

Giles decided that replying with anything would only make her feel worse so he said nothing. As he turned to leave the room, hopefully to never see the place ever again, he found his exit blocked by a dishevelled looking man, who was looking at Faith with a mixture of loathing, fear, and lust.

"So, you do like 'em old." He turned his attention to Giles, who was valiantly trying to restrain himself. "How much did it cost to get her to spread her legs for ya? Whatever it was you were overcharged."

Giles could feel that Faith was ready to pounce on the man, but decided that instead of restraining her, he'd beat her to the punch. Literally.

With a burst of speed that belied his age, Giles staggered the man with a thunderous punch to the head, followed by another to the stomach. The man fell down in pain, reverting to the foetal position as a defence mechanism.

Giles crouched down so that he could speak to the man without having to raise his voice. "You are only alive for two reasons; I don't like wasting energy on lowlife like yourself and I never kill before my third pot of tea. If I hear that you are within fifty metres of this young woman, or anyone else of which I am acquainted, I shall ignore both rules and ensure that they never find your body. I do hope that we have come to an understanding, for I would hate to have to enforce the point by cutting off your balls and feeding them to you. So, do we understand each other?" he asked, his tone mild but with an underlying steel that sent a shiver down the obnoxious man's spine.

"Yeah," he managed to gasp.

"Excellent," the Watcher replied, driving his point home by driving the point of his foot into the man's groin.

Giles turned to Faith, who had a shocked expression on her face. "Come along Faith, it is almost lunchtime and I do believe that the Cafeteria will be serving Ravioli, not exactly haute cuisine but a far sight better than the meatloaf they serve tomorrow."

Giles then stepped over the still whimpering man and headed to his car, Faith following a heartbeat later.

"What the hell was that?" she asked eventually, just now getting over the shock of seeing the stuffy looking Brit take down a man that to many would be more than a match for them with relative ease.

Giles read her shock as discomfort and sighed sadly, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I do apologise for losing my temper in there Faith, I try to have a better grasp over my emotions than that. I fear that the poor facsimile of a man reminded me of several individuals that I had the displeasure of knowing in my youth and, coupled with my natural loathing of anyone as crass as he acted, and the aftershocks of Linda's… demise, I was unable to prevent myself from lashing out. Although I do suppose it saved the cleaners the trouble of trying to get his blood and brain matter off the carpet had I allowed you to make your displeasure known."

Faith could see that he felt he had done something wrong, which in a purely legal standpoint he had, and felt compelled to make him see otherwise. "Nothing to apologise for, as you said I'd have probably made him no more than a grubby smear on the wall if you hadn't gotten to him first. I'm just surprised is all; you don't seem the type that could do that."

"Who I am now is not who I have always been; I highly doubt that Linda would have given me a sideways glance if she had only known me the way I am now. I did many things in my youth that I am not proud of, but I doubt I would be the person I am today had I not done them. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I do. I've done things I'm not proud of too."

Giles nodded but made no further comment, knowing that it would be up to Faith to continue that particular conversation. "I suggest we make our way back, if you like we could stop off somewhere and grab a bite to eat, as I wasn't joking about the less than stellar cuisine they serve in the canteen."

"Sounds good," she agreed.

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Broots was huddled over his keyboard, his fingers flying over the keys in a way that only a few others could match, hoping to finish before anyone came in. At the moment he was fabricating a lead on Jarod that would take them across most of the East Coast, although he was certain that he, Sydney and Miss Parker would be staying in Blue Cove.

His brother really didn't play well with others and he expected Brian to follow the lead on his own, giving them a few days to finalise the details of his plan and put them into motion. He wasn't looking forward to the obvious conclusion, as while he and his brother have come close to killing each other before, it had always been in the heat of the moment and never premeditated. There was a knot in his gut that wouldn't go away and he knew that if everything went as he thought, it never will.

Just as he finished erasing his tracks so no one, with the exception of Jarod himself, knew that the trail was false, his brother came marching up to him.

"Good morning brother," Mr. swallow greeted him in an oily tone better suited to used car salesmen, "I do hope you had a pleasant evening."

"Of course I did, you weren't there," Broots returned calmly, far calmer than those who knew him at The Centre would have expected.

He'd never normally be so bold as to talk back to one of his superiors here, but his brother was a special case. His demeanour at The Centre had always been as a meek man, but his brother was aware that he had a fire inside him and if he didn't respond how he expected he'd grow suspicious. That was another reason to get Brian out of the way as soon as possible; people were going to wonder why he was acting out of character, at least as far as they were concerned, and he was too close to his objective to be found out now.

"Have you any leads on Jarod's whereabouts, or have your skills dwindled since the last time I spoke to you?" Mr. Swallow asked.

"Actually I've just found a lead on Jarod as you came in. It seems he's in Portland, Oregon. I was just about to call Miss. Parker and…"

"If you've forgotten," Mr. Swallow cut in, swinging Broots round so he was facing him, "I'm in charge of capturing Jarod now, any and all information should come to me and only me. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," he replied sarcastically. "Now you know, would you like to contact the others so we can go get him?"

"No, you three can stay here and do whatever it is you do while I go and collect our elusive Pretender. Have them get the jet ready for my immediate departure."

"By your command."

"You know," Mr. Swallow said mildly, "I'm feeling quite chipper today so I might not even kill him when I catch up to him."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it." Broots watched him leave, and then remembered something and called out to him. "Brian?"

"I told you to call me Mr. Swallow or Sir while at work didn't I Rufus."

"Yes, but this isn't about work. I thought that, seeing as you're going to be in town for a while, you might like to come round and see Debbie one night, perhaps when you get back?"

Mr. Swallow turned round and graced Broots with a rare sight; a genuinely warm smile. "I'd like that." With nothing else to say, Mr. Swallow turned round once more and left.

Suddenly feeling queasy, Broots raced for the bathroom and emptied his stomach. He'd just used his daughter in his plan to kill his brother, without any coaxing or threats of violence. He'd had to do a lot of things during his time at the Centre that had made him feel uncomfortable, but this was the first time that he felt he like he might never be able to redeem himself.

**Sunnydale High School,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Buffy and Willow had just been served the delight that was Ravioli, and were making their way to their usual table. It was one of the things that they'd gotten used to over the last few months, eating lunch together. With Buffy and Xander not speaking to each other and Oz needing to actually show some initiative to graduate, it had really just been the two of them. Xander wasn't with them today because he wanted to spend some more time with Jarod, something both girls understood, as they would feel the same were they in his shoes.

Buffy was actually glad that she had Willow to herself today, as she wanted to talk to her about Xander. Now they were friends again she had been able to accept the feeling she had for him, and knew that she wanted to find out if he still felt something for her.

Before she did that, she needed to find out what Willow thought about it. She didn't think her best female friend still harboured any feelings for Xander, Oz had effectively purged them from her system, but she needed to know whether she could accept Xander and herself as a couple. She couldn't say that she would ignore her feelings if Willow did have reservations, but it would make things a whole lot more complicated.

"So, what do you want to talk about Buffy?" Willow asked as they sat down.

"What makes you think I want to talk about anything?" Buffy asked innocently in reply. "I might be quite happy with sitting in silence."

"You've had something face for a while now, you don't get something face for no reason."

"Alright, stop with the interrogation."

"You know you can tell me anything Buffy," Willow told her.

"I know," she sighed, realising that she really could tell Willow anything. After taking a deep breath she bit the bullet. "I have boyfriend-y feelings for someone."

"Really? That's great Buffy," Willow told her happily. "I know things have been hard since, well, you know, but it's time to move on. So, who's the lucky guy?"

"It's, um, it's…" Buffy trailed off, still finding it difficult to say what she wanted.

"Buffy?"

"It's Xander," she blurted out.

"Xander?"

"Xander."

"Our Xander?"

"Yes Willow, our Xander."

"Um, wow. Xander?"

"Yes!" she screamed, causing many in the room to turn in her direction. "I have warm and fuzzy feelings for Xander."

"Sorry, it's just a bit of a u-turn. I mean, a couple of days ago you could barely stand to look at him."

"I know it seems sudden, but I've been having these feelings for a while now."

"How long?"

"Since before 'The Lie'."

"What!" Now it was Willow's turn to have people staring at her. "How?"

"It doesn't really matter how, what matters at the moment is you."

"Me? Why would… Buffy, I'm with Oz; I don't have any feelings for Xander like that anymore. I'm not entirely sure I ever did really."

"What do you mean? From that first night at the Bronze you made it pretty obvious that you were crushing on him in a major way."

"Xander and Jesse were the only ones boys that had wanted to know me for me, not for what I could do for them, so it was almost inevitable that I'd start jonesing for one of them. I didn't think of Jesse like that because ever since kindergarten he'd had a crush on Cordelia, but Xander never really showed much interest in anyone, not to the extent that he did with…" she trailed off, averting her gaze.

"With who?" Buffy asked.

Willow turned back to her friend. "With you. He'd shown interest in other girls, but it was more like a phase. With you, it was more than that. You were the first girl that he found difficult to ask out, because he cared more about your answer than he had anyone else."

"Do you think he still does?" she asked, trying to keep the hope out of her voice.

"I don't know," she admitted, "but even if I did I couldn't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Would you want me to tell Xander if the roles were reversed?"

"No," Buffy sighed, hating Willow and her logic. "So, if I decide to act on my feelings, are you going to be alright with it?" she asked nervously.

"I want you to be happy Buffy, just like I want Xander to be happy. If you two getting together does that, then I'm alright with that."

Buffy pulled Willow into a hug, speaking softly into her ear. "You know Willow, I kinda love you."

"I know, me too."

* * *

Jarod and Xander had spent most of their lunch getting to know each other, their likes and dislikes etc. They'd always been careful not to give too much personal information while communicating online, just in case The Centre intercepted it and tried to use the knowledge to their advantage. 

While Jarod had told Xander as much as he could about his grandparents and aunt, he had given next to no information about his mother. He knew about her from his own sources, and he knew that the relationship between them was difficult to describe, but it just felt strange for his father to not mention his mother in any way.

"I want to meet my mother," Xander said abruptly, needing to say it before he chickened out.

The statement wasn't a surprise to Jarod, as he knew that Xander would say such a thing one day, but he had hoped it would be under better circumstances. "I don't think that would be wise right now," he told his son tentatively.

"Why not?" Xander asked/demanded.

Jarod sighed, knowing that he had to reveal something he'd kept hidden from him. "Xander, there's something I haven't told you about your mother, something that I've managed to ensure you didn't discover on your own. Your mother is the one in charge of returning me to the Centre."

"What!" he exclaimed, completely flabbergasted by the revelation.

He'd known that his mother worked for the Centre and knew Jarod, but this…

"Because of our friendship as children, she was brought in from Corporate by her father to track me down, not to mention that she was the best sweeper The Centre had before she'd transferred."

"Why is she doing it?" he asked, trying to keep the sadness he felt out of his voice.

"Because her father asked her to, and because she made a deal; my freedom for hers," Jarod replied, not wanting to lie to his son despite the topic.

Xander knew that when it came to the Centre, you should never believe in happy endings, but he'd always hoped that he'd be able to have a relationship with both his mother and father. Now it seemed that for him to know one, the other must be under the thumb of The Centre.

"Great, my granddad has ordered my mother to capture my father. My life feels like a TV show. The thing is, with all that, it's still preferable to having Tony and Jessica as my real parents. I know that it makes things a lot more complicated, but I still want to meet her."

"Xander…"

"From everything I've discovered about her," Xander cut in before his dad could go any further, "and from what she'd told me, underneath the Ice queen persona hides someone I'd be proud to call 'mom'."

Jarod wanted to argue the point, but he knew his son was telling the truth. He too had high hopes that one day Xander's mother would see the Centre and her father for what they truly were and leave them, but that day had yet come. "She is," he conceded, "but I have to tell you that she is very loyal to her father, often doing what he wants as opposed to doing what's right. That doesn't make her a bad person, but it does mean that you would be risking not only your life but the lives of your friends if you contact her while she is still a part of the Centre."

"What do you suggest I do then?" he asked in frustration and anger. "Wait until you've been captured and she's released before seeing her?"

"I just want you to think long and hard about it before you make a decision," he advised, "as there's no such thing as second chances when you're dealing with a Parker."


	9. Chapter Eight

_**Chapter Eight**_

**Sunnydale High School,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Jarod, Buffy and Willow were sitting round the table in the library, the Pretender regaling the two girls with one of his earliest adventures outside of The Centre. It made a change to speak honestly about his adventures, having to edit and sometimes completely omit parts of his life when conversing with others, knowing that most people would not believe him anyway.

After his talk with his son, he'd decided to give Xander some time to consider what he'd told him. He hoped that he would heed his advice and delay planning a meeting between himself and his mother. The Pretender did have plans of his own to bring the three of them together, the beginnings of which had already been put into place, but didn't want to let his son know in case it didn't pan out. He knew Xander was a fine Pretender, and would no doubt work out a viable solution to the problem, but he had a great deal more personal experience with the people involved and that gave him a distinct advantage over him. Of course, the reverse was true if he were to try and concoct a simulation concerning Buffy and the others.

Both Willow and Buffy were entranced by the story unfolding before them, listening intently as he described how he ensured that a man who beat a woman into a coma paid for his crime, while once again trying to keep out of the hands of The Centre. It made them both feel good that there were people in the world like Jarod, taking it upon themselves to fight for the little guy, and to ensure that justice was served to those who would otherwise get off scot-free. The fact that every time Jarod helped someone, he was also putting his own freedom at risk only made it more special.

"… So there I was, running through the casino with Sydney and Miss Parker hot on my heels, Sydney actually surprising me with his ability to keep pace with us…"

"Why was that surprising?" Willow asked cutting him off, not knowing whom this Sydney was.

"Sydney is in his mid to late fifties," he explained to the young redhead, smiling slightly upon thinking of his former mentor, "he's also more of an academic and unused to working in the field."

"Oh."

Willow was confused by the softness of Jarod's voice when describing a person who was tasked with his capture, but decided not to question him about it, at least not now anyway.

"Anyway," Jarod continued, knowing they both wanted to hear the end of his tale, "as I made it outside and was running down the steps to freedom, Miss Parker finally catches up with me. I know that she's got her gun trained on me and being that she's the second-best shot in The Centre, a Sweeper called Sam being the best, I have no choice but to stop running and turn around." A small but surprisingly fond smile appeared on his face. "She's got this Cheshire cat grin plastered on her face, although it has no real warmth to it, and begins showboating about how she was taking me back to The Centre 'where I belonged'. Just as she was about to cuff me, half a dozen security personnel surround us, taking her gun away and ensuring that she and Sydney, who had caught up to us moments later, didn't get away." Jarod had a gleam in his eye and a wide but somewhat evil smile on his face. "The look on Miss Parker's face as she realised I was head of security was priceless, I'd have given almost anything for a camera to capture the moment. Anyway, I had them take Sydney and Miss Parker away, suggesting that they give her a… 'Thorough' search, just to be on the safe side."

"That was mean!" Buffy exclaimed, imagining that this Miss Parker Jarod had talked about would not be happy about that suggestion, but her laughter belied any anger she might have been showing. She had met people like Miss Parker, both here and in LA, and knew that it wouldn't hurt for her to be humbled a little.

"Oh I knew that they wouldn't do anything untoward," Jarod explained, not wanting them to think badly of him, "nor would I have allowed anything untoward to happen to her, but Miss Parker sometimes needs to be taken down a peg or two," he explained, unknowingly agreeing with Buffy's musings. "She acts too much like her father for my liking." Jarod's features darkened upon mentioning Mr. Parker, the man that he held responsible for his abduction and incarceration.

"Why do you keep calling her Miss Parker?" Buffy asked, finding it strange that he would speak so formally about his pursuer. "Doesn't she have a first name?"

"Of course she does," he replied with a smile, "but ever since she was a little girl, her father ordered everyone at the Centre to only ever call her Miss Parker. Not even he calls her by her first name, instead calling her his angel."

Jarod noticed the flinch that appeared on Buffy's face as he mentioned Mr. Parker's pet name for his daughter but said nothing, knowing the reasons behind it. He believed it was a classic case of 'least said, soonest mended'.

"Do you know what her name is?"

"Yes; although it was forbidden for me to interact with anyone other than Sydney unless it was for a sim, Miss Parker and I were friends when we were younger. One day I asked her what it was and she whispered it to me, making me promise to never tell another soul."

"So, what is it?"

"I can't tell you," he told her, shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"Because I made her a promise."

Buffy looked at him like he'd just grown a second head. "You made her a promise? She's chasing you all over the country, shooting at you on more than one occasion, all so she can take you back to the people that took you away from your family, and you can't tell me what her first name is because you made her a promise!"

"You're right about all that Buffy," he conceded, knowing that someone who wasn't aware of their long history would see it like that, "but none of that changes the fact I gave her my word I would never tell another soul. I always keep my word Buffy; it's one of the few things that nobody can take away from me and I cannot, will not, go back on my word for any reason."

"Very commendable Jarod."

All three occupants of the table turned to the source of the voice, seeing Giles and Faith standing a few feet away.

Instead of taking her belongings to Buffy's house now, Giles and Joyce had decided that he should drive both Faith and Buffy there that evening himself, so they could all have a chat about the future.

Joyce had been very adamant that Faith could stay with her and Buffy for as long as she wanted, which would mean that things would have to be put in place for that to become official. Giles would be able to use his Council connections to smooth things along, although he was sure that Travers would most probably prefer her to stay with him.

He wouldn't have minded Faith using his spare room, as she reminded him a lot of himself at her age, but he knew that she would be better off with a mother figure like Joyce right now, especially given the traumatic experiences she has endured recently.

"Good afternoon Giles, Faith," Jarod replied, smiling warmly at the two newcomers.

While Jarod was outwardly projecting happiness, internally he was worried that Giles and Faith were able to get so close without his noticing. One of the things that kept him a step ahead of The Centre was his unending vigilance, being constantly alert in case Miss Parker or a Sweeper team suddenly burst through the doors. Having a middle-aged man and a teenaged girl get so close to him without him detecting them gave him cause for concern, despite knowing they had no ulterior motives.

He was starting to think that since meeting his son he had allowed his guard to drop, especially given the welcoming nature of Xander's friends, accepting him openly and without reservation, apart from Giles who he noticed maintained a level of wariness where he was concerned. Not that he blamed him; he no doubt cared for Xander and the others deeply and wanted to ensure that he wasn't a threat to their physical or emotional well-being.

While strictly speaking he could leave, his primary reason for being in Sunnydale was to investigate Miss Calendar's death and the high death statistics, but the thought of leaving his son when he had just begun to get to know him made him feel like a heavy weight was pressing against his chest. Family was everything to him, and while Xander hadn't been brought into this world the way Jarod would have liked, he loved him unconditionally and would stay in Sunnydale for as long as possible to get to know him and his friends better.

That meant however that he would have to strive to maintain his alertness and not become too complacent, which considering all that he had learnt about this town was not a bad idea in any case.

"Did you get everything?" Jarod asked Faith, setting aside his inner monologue for when he was alone. He had quickly realised that he and Faith had something in common, in that they were both outsiders to the group. Neither was made to feel as such, in fact they were included as much as possible, but that didn't mean that they were ignorant of it.

"Yeah, not that there was much to get in the first place," she replied, smiling slightly. She found herself conflicted when it came to the handsome looking man; on the one hand she wanted to take him behind one the book shelves and steer him round her curves, but on the other she didn't want to alienate the first group of people that had ever treated her like an equal after Linda her Watcher.

Neither her parents nor the various foster homes she'd been placed in had ever treated her as anything other than a nuisance, or sometimes a live-in whore. Linda had treated her like a friend at first and later a daughter, encouraging her when she found things difficult and praising her when she did well. These people barely knew her and yet had welcomed her into their 'family'. They treated her wounds, protected her when she couldn't protect herself, and offered her a home.

She wanted to start afresh, to leave behind the person she had to become to survive her childhood and perhaps become someone that Linda would be proud of, but she found it hard to resist some of her more baser instincts. Riding Jarod like a prize bull was right at the top of that list, and doing likewise to his son came in a close second. It would of course be a satisfying experience for all involved, she'd never had a dissatisfied customer yet, but she didn't want to give herself up so freely anymore. It was going to be hard, but she'd just have to invest in a lot of batteries.

"Do you know where Xander is," Giles asked the trio, "I was hoping to speak with him about something."

"I believe he has gone home," Jarod replied, knowing exactly where his son went, but instinctively falling back into old habits and downplaying his mental abilities. Even when it came to the little things like remembering where people went, he was always careful not to answer too quickly or too surely. "He 'somehow' had no lessons this afternoon and decided to catch up on some research."

"Oh well, it can wait until later."

Giles had wanted to talk to Xander a little more about his Pretender abilities, finding the entire subject fascinating. He could of course discuss it with Jarod, but he could tell that his experiences were a little different from Xander's and, while he covered it quite well, he could tell that the emotional wounds he suffered whilst subjugated by The Centre were both deep and plentiful.

Deciding to leave the others to their own devices for the moment, Giles headed to his office to continue his research on Kakistos, in hopes of discovering some weakness they might be able to use to their advantage.

"So J," Faith began as she joined the others at the table, "What did I miss?"

"Oh, I was just talking about one of my pretends in Las Vegas."

"Do any in Boston?" she asked.

"Yes actually. I was checking the papers when I read about a spate of muggings…"

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Xander was feeling a little down after his conversation with his father, and needed some alone time to work through his thoughts and feelings, not only on what they had discussed, but also on some other topics that had kept his mind occupied lately.

He knew that trying to contact his mother would be putting himself, not to mention his father, into an extremely high level of risk, especially considering he wouldn't know whether she'd welcome him with open arms or slap the cuffs on him and return him to The Centre. He didn't remember anything about The Centre, which given that he'd practically been a newborn when he had been liberated that wasn't a big surprise, but he'd gathered enough information on the inner workings of The Centre to know that being there in any capacity would not be in his best interest.

None of that however had changed his mind about wanting to meet her, but it did change how he would do it. He didn't like it, but he would have to wait until being in her presence didn't hold the possibility that he'd lose his freedom, or until circumstance made it unavoidable.

Putting that to one side for the moment, he started to work on the problem that was Kakistos. Facing a vampire that had been around since before Christianity had even existed was completely different to what they were used to, so their usual methods would no doubt prove fruitless.

The good news was he didn't really operate the way Buffy did and now that they all knew who he was he didn't need to hide the fact. Having his dad around would also be useful, as while Xander was no slouch in the Pretending department, Jarod was still the master.

One problem he would have to overcome was Buffy's, and no doubt Faith's, natural desire to take Kakistos on head on. He'd read up on enough information pertaining to Kakistos to know that a frontal assault would only lead to a bloodbath that neither Slayer would leave undamaged. He had already thought of several scenarios that would ensure Kakistos' demise without putting either Slayer in unnecessary danger, but he would run them passed his father and Giles before starting to implement any of them.

The beep of his computer signals that it had completed its search. Since Faith had told them all how she'd been ambushed in her motel room by several of Kakistos' minions, he'd been working on finding out how.

It turned out that the motel, not to mention several other businesses, were in fact owned by a Brachen demon called Slade. While Brachen demons were in general a peaceable race, there were a few exceptions to the rule and Slade was one of them. They didn't have the time to find and kill him like Xander would want, ensuring a permanent end to his ability to cause them problems, but there was more than one way to skin a cat.

Knowing that demons didn't have the ability to become American citizens, he knew that Slade must have used illegitimate means to acquire his mini business empire, so finding evidence of that and sending it to the IRS and several other agencies would ensure that Slade would be out of their hair for quite a while without rousing suspicion on him or the others. He knew that Slade would no doubt reappear on their radar at a later date, but they would simply have to cross that bridge when they come to it.

The next thing on his mind was Willow. Now he had time to think things through, he realised that her response to his secret, while not unexpected, had become dangerous to himself and others due to her magical ability.

She was without a doubt one of the most knowledgeable people he knew, and given who he knew that was a bold statement. The problem was that she so desired to acquire new knowledge that she sometimes neglected to spend the time necessary to learn everything correctly.

He could remember more than one time when she nearly blew up the shed in her back yard when playing with chemicals, not bothering to take the proper safety precautions in favour of getting quicker results. It seemed that she was now doing the same thing with magic.

He knew that both Buffy and Giles had witnessed what she'd done, and were no doubt worried about it as well, but he knew Willow; trying some sort of intervention would only backfire, making her take more risks to prove that she was in control. He would have to talk with them both privately and ensure neither tried to confront her until they had thought of an alternate way to get through to her.

It was at times like these that Xander hated being a Pretender; his ability to sim all the possible scenarios were a gift and a curse, especially when it came to the lives of his friends and family. He would do anything necessary to ensure some of the more extreme scenarios he'd imagined never come to fruition, not only for his friend but also for the world.

The final thing that was troubling his mind, well the final major thing that was troubling his mind given the amount of things he thought of, was Buffy. The little looks and gestures that had registered with him since their reconciliation were beginning to drive him to frustration, as he was unable to tell whether they more than simple wishful thinking.

It was an unspoken rule he'd made for himself that stopped him from running a sim on it, feeling that it would taint it somehow to do so. He knew that he could easily work out just what Buffy was thinking and feeling, in fact he had done so many times before, but on matters of the heart he wanted it to be as… normal an experience as possible. Doing so had caused him heartache, Buffy's initial rejection of him and his break up with Cordelia shining examples of that, but he truly hoped that he had become a better person because of it.

He knew that the only true way of finding out was to simply ask her, but he'd always found that asking Buffy anything to do with them becoming an 'us' was so far from simple it wasn't visible with the naked eye. His fear of being rejected a second time stayed his hand, and he selfishly wanted her to make the first move this time around, if only to prove that there was something to move on.

Looking at his watch, he noticed he had enough time for a bit of circuit training before needing to be back at the library, so he headed to his living area to change. Maybe a little physical exertion would help him clear his mind a little, at least until the next problem arose.

**Unknown Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

The eerie darkness of the warehouse was a fitting environment for the oldest living vampire, Kakistos. Vague recollections of sunlight were all he had left, and that was the way he preferred it. For thousands of years he had cut a swathe through humanity, draining them of their lifeblood as much for pleasure as for necessity, and the thrill of witnessing the life drain from his victim's eyes had not lessened one iota. In all that time, he had not felt anger towards more than a handful of humans, for why would you waste emotions on cattle?

He had committed their names to memory; Eric the Red, Sir Robin of Loxley, Dances with Wolves, and the most recent of them, the latest Slayer, Faith. The others were dead, despatched either directly or indirectly by him, but the Slayer remained alive, although not for much longer. He was not ready to snuff her out just yet however. For what she had done she must suffer greatly, more than any other by his hand for a millennia.

She had done something that no other being had been able to accomplish; she had visibly injured him. The damage he had sustained to his left eye was permanent; not even his accelerated healing could repair it fully, leaving him with a permanent scar. He would forever more have a visible sign that a lowly mortal had bested him, even if it had been nothing more than a lucky strike, a strike he knew she'd had no conscious thought of making. Because of it, his rivals would consider it to be a sign of weakness on his part and may even grow enough backbone to try and overthrow him, not that they stood a chance against his might, and for that she must pay.

Simple death would be too quick, too inadequate to quench his thirst for vengeance. He wanted to take her to the very brink of death and then allow her to heal, purely so he could repeat the process again and again. He wanted to destroy everything she held dear; her friends, her family, anyone who even knew of her existence. All would fall by the wayside in his pursuit to obliterate any trace of her presence on this earth. He wanted to break her in every way possible and then, only when she was no more than a shell, would he extinguish her pitiful life once and for all.

So far his plan was working; he had taken great delight in torturing and later killing the raven haired Slayer's Watcher right before her eyes, revelling in the horror and despair in her eyes as she was splattered with her blood. He enjoyed himself when defiling her mother, allowing his cadre to fulfil their base desires with her repeatedly before draining her so completely that she was no more than a desiccated husk.

Allowing her to escape only to follow her across the country, always ensuring she knew he was a hair's breadth away, ensured that she never felt safe and kept her on the cusp of breakdown. He wanted to ensure that she was in a near constant state of fear, never allowing her a moment's respite. It also reminded him of his youth, taking great delight in hunting his prey across land and water until they could simply run no more. Good times.

Following her to Sunnydale had been child's play, realising that she would have nowhere else to go, and meant that he could kill all those she had come into contact with on her journey without fear of losing track of his prey. Having his Lieutenant Mr. Trick take a couple of minions and attack her was purely to ensure she realised they knew where she was, and that there was no haven from his ire.

Being on the site of the Hellmouth did mean that there were more nuisances other than his prey, but he was not worried. He had heard of the other Slayer, the news of the Slayer line splitting had caused a look of surprise to appear on his face for the first time since the Crusades, and he was intrigued to discover whether she was as skilled as he'd been informed. She had bested the Master, who before he had succumbed to his delusions of grandeur had been a formidable vampire and almost worthy of his respect. She had also bested Angelus, who in time could have rivalled himself as the most feared among their kind.

She would of course fall like so many other Chosen that had the misfortune to be in his path; she may be considered as one of the best of her ilk but she was still a mere mortal. Oh yes, she would fall, but it would be amusing to see what pitiful attempt she would make defending his prey.

His plan was nearing its final stage, his masterpiece almost complete. Soon, he would taste the final drop of life from his prey and go down in history as the first vampire to have killed two slayers in one night, further cementing his place as the most feared vampire ever to walk the Earth.


	10. Chapter Nine

_**Chapter Nine**_

**Colwell Cemetery,  
Dover, Delaware.**

"I miss you Tommy."

Miss Parker was crouching down by Tommy's grave, replacing the flowers she'd left last week with fresh ones. As always there was a second bouquet there, yellow and white chrysanthemums, and as usual there was no indication as to who sent them. She had her suspicions, but out of respect to Tommy had decided not to follow up on it.

Everything surrounding Tommy's death was still like an open wound to her, one of the few chinks in her otherwise impervious armour, and another chapter of her life that remained incomplete. She knew that the Centre had a hand in his death and subsequent cover up, but as yet had been unable to uncover who ordered the hit or who really pulled the trigger. She would though and when she did, they would pay the piper.

The buzzing in her pocket, indicating that her phone was vibrating, pulled her out of her thought and she answered it while standing up.

"Hello?" she snapped, her tone indicating she was in no mood for conversation.

"Hello Miss Parker."

"Jarod," she sighed irritably, "I really don't need your mind games right now, so either tell me where you are or get the hell off the phone."

"No games Miss Parker, no riddles, and no wild goose chases. As for where I am, you know I won't tell you that."

There was a tone in his voice that stopped her from cutting the connection. "So what do you want?" she asked eventually.

"I want to talk."

"That's it? You want to talk?" she asked, her voice loaded with doubt.

"That's it. I'll make you a deal; you don't ask where I am or what I'm doing, and everything else is free game."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just as it sounds Miss Parker, as long as you don't ask me where I am or what I'm doing, I give you my word that I'll answer any questions you have as honestly and frankly as I can."

"What's in it for you?" she asked, almost certain that there was some ulterior motive for Jarod's actions. The reason she was certain was because there was always an ulterior motive to Jarod's actions.

"I get to have a civilised conversation with you, something we haven't done in a very long time."

"Why now Jarod?" she asked.

"Do you agree to my terms Miss Parker?" he replied, indicating that she would only receive an answer if she agreed.

The prospect of getting the answers she'd been striving for all these years was simply too tempting to resist. "Yes, now answer the question."

"Because I wanted to talk with someone who I didn't have to pretend with. Wherever I go I make friends, but they're never really mine, instead they're the friends of who I was pretending to be at the time. I can be in a room full of people and feel alone, because no one knows whom I truly am. With you I don't have to pretend because you already know who I am." He paused for a moment. "Do you like the flowers?"

He didn't need to say what flowers he was talking about. "They're beautiful," she answered truthfully. "Why do you send them?"

"Because he was my friend too."

"You knew Tommy?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes, he helped me during a pretend to expose a rival contractor of malpractice. I'm glad he talked to you that day, otherwise I would have never had a chance to escape."

"You were there!" she exclaimed, finding herself amused by the fact.

He laughed. "If you knew just how many times you'd come close to catching me, you'd be kicking yourself."

"No doubt," she grumbled, but she was surprised that she didn't really feel all that angry.

"You are a formidable adversary Miss Parker."

"Is that how you see me? As you adversary?" she asked, not liking the thought.

"… No," he replied eventually, "I don't, and you know that."

"How do you see me Jarod?" she asked before she could stop herself.

This was one of the reasons she never talked with him for long, the way he managed to slip through her defences so effortlessly. He had the potential to hurt her more than anyone else, alive or dead, and she doubted he had the slightest clue.

"I see you Miss Parker," he answered softly, "just you. I would ask you the same thing, but that is the one truth I'm not sure I'm ready to discover just yet."

"Jarod…"

"You should get something in the post from me in the morning Miss Parker," he said cutting her off, knowing that neither of them were in a position to allow that line of conversation to continue, at least not yet. "It is going to be difficult for you to believe what you find, but I give you my word that it is the truth."

"What is it?"

"The catalyst for my escape three years ago."

"What does that have to do with me?" she wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer from the Pretender given that the answers were already on their way.

"That is a question I would be wise not to answer whilst you're using a Centre issued phone Miss Parker," he answered carefully, mindful of their agreement, "for your safety as well as mine."

"Broots checks my phone every day for bugs, I don't like being spied on."

"Gemini was not the first time the Centre have played God Miss Parker," he told her uncomfortably, unwilling to get into this without her holding hard facts to support him, "and what I've sent you explains just what they did."

She could feel that Jarod didn't want to tell her any more, and decided not to push the issue, as he might have broken the agreement in order to keep silent, and there were other things she wanted to talk about.

"Who ordered Tommy dead?" she asked eventually.

"Your father."

The answer was immediate and final, and she just knew he was telling the truth. She had thought the same thing many times herself, but had never wanted to believe that her own father could do something so cruel to her. She knew he wasn't perfect, he did run The Centre after all, but she had always thought that when it came to her it was different.

"You're sure?" she asked, hoping the answer would be no.

"I can send you the termination order if you like."

The thought that whatever documentation he would send might be forged was immediately quashed. Jarod may have hurt her with the things he'd helped her discover, but he would never manipulate her like that. She found it strange that she could be so certain of that, but certain of it she was.

"How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

It was a question borne out of desperation, and knew what the answer would be before he spoke it.

"Because I promised you that I would."

Jarod's word was one of the few things that Miss Parker never had to doubt; he would never go back on his word and never has, even when doing so would spare him pain. That realisation was a hard pill to swallow, given the circumstances. Having no other option but to believe her father had her boyfriend killed, she pressed on.

"Who killed him?" she asked, knowing that while her father signed off on Tommy's death, he wouldn't have pulled the trigger.

"Brigitte."

Again the answer was immediate and final. This time she wasn't upset, in fact she was almost glad, as it meant she now had ample reason to shoot the bitch right between the eyes.

"I'll kill her," she whispered, her tone as hard as granite.

"Don't forget she is carrying your brother or sister," he told her, once again trying in his own way to stop her from doing something she might later regret.

She appreciated it, even if she never said so. Sydney was the only other person who cared enough, or was brave enough, to do so. Broots had made an abortive attempt or two when he thought what she wanted to do was wrong, but he didn't have the backbone to follow the thought through.

"Daddy is infertile," she replied eventually, trying to convince herself as much as Jarod. "The chances of it being his are…"

"100 given the circumstances," he completed for her. "Do you honestly think he would be acting the way he is if he weren't certain the child was his?" he asked, his tone indicating his scepticism. "Your father has never struck me as an overly affectionate person, and yet he fawns all over her."

The way her father treated Brigitte made her sick to her stomach, especially as he was never that loving to her mother, or herself. The foetus in Brigitte's womb might be her brother or sister, but she couldn't bring herself to care either way when compared to the fact she killed her Tommy.

"So what? Like I need another sibling to ruin my life like Lyle."

"Did you ever double check the results, or do ones of your own?"

She didn't need to ask what he meant by that. "What do you mean? You yourself told me that my brother was either Lyle or…"

"Angelo. What do you think your father would have done to Raines if Angelo was found to be his son, after all the things he has subjected him to?"

The implications of that question made her smile one moment and pale the next. While the thought of the ghoul finally getting what was coming to him was satisfying, the thought of what the Centre had done to Angelo was more than enough to extinguish any such feeling. When she was alone she could admit that what The Centre had put Jarod through was abhorrent, but even he would readily agree that he had got off lightly in comparison to the empath.

She remembered listening to Angelo, or Timmy as he was then, playing to her after he decided to help Davey by sacrificing his own sanity. It was the first time in a long time that she'd allowed herself to cry freely in front of someone else, as his playing got progressively worse as the effects of the drug wore off and Angelo's personality re-asserted itself.

"Are you saying that Angelo is my brother?" she asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

"I honestly do not know for certain," he admitted, "but given the choices I know which one I'd rather be related to. I suggest you run your own tests and find out for certain."

"I will."

She wasn't sure what the consequences would be if Angelo truly were her brother, but one thing was certain; if it turned out that he was, there was no way she'd leave him in The Centre.

"Getting back on topic," Jarod began, regaining Miss Parker's attention, "that baby has as much right to live as Tommy did. Do you really think you could live with yourself if you denied him or her that?" he asked, knowing what her answer would be.

"… No. I suppose this means I can't kill her until after she's given birth," she sighed, her conscience finally kicking in and telling her that it agreed with Jarod; no matter how deserving of a bullet the blonde bitch was, the life growing inside her was not.

"If her medical records are anything to go by, you won't get a chance."

"What do you mean?"

"There is every chance that she will die during childbirth."

"A life for a life. Who says there isn't a God?"

"I must admit that I can see the irony of the situation. Miss Parker…"

"Why do you always call me that? You know I don't like my first name being used, but at least Sydney just calls me Parker. Do you have to be so formal?"

"One should always be formal when addressing a lady unless given permission to do otherwise."

"Well I'm giving you permission. Call me Parker… please?"

She wasn't sure where the please came from, having so rarely said it in recent years, but there had been a time when she would ask instead of order, and this conversation reminded her of that simpler, and quite honestly happier, time.

"Okay, Parker, if I were to ask you a question, would you give me an honest answer?"

"That would depend on the question."

"Given what you now know, do you really think your father would fulfil his end of the bargain you made to bring me in?"

"How do you know about that?" she asked, surprised that he knew for a moment before she remembered just who she was speaking to.

"I was curious as to why your father had chosen you to be the one to bring me in, given his distaste for our friendship when we were younger."

"Why did you never say anything before?"

"Because I can not and will not begrudge you from wanting the same thing I wanted all my life. So, do you think he'll let you walk away from the Centre?"

"I have to believe it Jarod, I need to believe it."

She started to think this was a bad idea. No, she **knew** this was a bad idea. This conversation had been the longest they'd had since she was a child, before her father had sent her off to boarding school and they'd lost touch. As nice as it was to talk to him like this, it only made her job that much harder.

All the time she thought of Jarod as the labrat, like she had when she was first brought in to track him, it was easy for her to pursue him. Seeing him as Jarod the person, or worse Jarod her childhood best friend, muddied the waters and plagued her conscience.

He wasn't a criminal, in fact he was a victim, and yet here she was trying to bring him back to the place that had taken him from his family as a child, denied him his freedom, and used him as nothing more than a resource. When she allowed herself to think of what she was doing, late at night when she was alone with her memories, she could barely look at herself in the mirror the next day, but despite all that her only chance to gain her freedom was to deprive Jarod of his.

"I have to go Jarod," she said, unable to handle the emotions running through her at the moment.

She disconnected before he had a chance to respond and, after taking one final look at Tommy's grave, made her way back to her car. It wasn't until she went to open the door that she realised she took the flowers that Jarod had sent with her.

**Jarod's Apartment,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Jarod stared at his cell phone for several seconds, berating himself for asking her that question, despite the fact that he desperately wanted to know the answer. It had been the longest and most civil conversation they'd had in a long, long time and he'd ruined it by asking her the one question guaranteed to do just that.

As he had told her, he could not fault her for wanting out of The Centre, for it had been the same thing he'd wanted since he could remember. It had taken the discovery of Xander's existence for him to muster the courage to escape; he hoped that it would have the same effect on Mi… Parker.

How could such a small thing like that, make him feel so good? The feeling that flowed through him when she told him he could call her Parker was beyond his ability to describe, and that was saying something from a man who had the entire English dictionary memorised, as well as several foreign dictionaries.

That glorious, almost overwhelming feeling, made him finally accept something that he had tried in vain to ignore or deny for most of his life; he was in love with her, and had been from the moment he had first laid eyes on her all those years ago.

This only made things worse in his eyes, because he would no longer be able to behave objectively when dealing with her and, if he showed how he felt to the others, they might use it against him. He would not put it past Lyle or Raines to use Parker as bait to capture him if they knew, and he would take the bait in spite of the knowledge that it was a trap, because he could not and would not take the risk of her being hurt or worse because of him.

On the bright side, his acceptance of how he felt for her would please Xander no end. He could tell in his communications with him, and when he talked to him earlier today, that Xander would like nothing more than for them to be a family; not like his childhood with the Harris', but a real, loving, family. Now he was no longer denying his feelings for her, Jarod wanted the same thing too.

Now more than ever did he hope that everything would go to plan, because the stakes had gotten that much greater.

**Summers Residence,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Joyce Summers had gone through a lot in the last few years; a divorce that was on the wrong side of messy, dealing with a daughter that at the time she believed had a psychotic break, moving to a small town, starting her own business, and most recently dealing with the fact that her only daughter had run away from home. Each one had been a major undertaking by themselves, together they could easily test the most level-headed of people. Despite it all, Joyce knew that in the end it was all a part of the tapestry of life, hers was simply one of the more colourful.

Being a single mother was a thankless and tiring job at the best of times, but for the most part it was a fulfilling one. She loved her daughter dearly and wouldn't trade her for the world, but having to deal with a daughter that would be out at all hours of the night, with bruises appearing in the morning that weren't there the night before, was a job that no amount of money could compensate.

For two years she had worried about her daughter, wondering what sort of things she could have gotten caught up in a quaint little town like Sunnydale that made her sport the amount of injuries she'd gotten, but never knowing quite how to broach the subject with her.

It had all come to a head this summer when her daughter had told her she needed to go and stop her former boyfriend from destroying the world. She hadn't taken it well, which looking back wasn't all that surprising, and they'd had a screaming row that ended with her telling Buffy that if she left the house she wasn't welcome back.

It was a spur of the moment thing to say, borne out of desperation at the prospect of her daughter going out and doing something beyond imagining. While she hadn't meant a word of it, Buffy had believed her and, after dealing with the apocalypse (she still couldn't believe she was thinking about the possible end of the world without the need for medication), had fled Sunnydale and left for parts unknown.

It was several months before Buffy returned, and it had taken time after that for them to become comfortable around each other again. Dealing with the fact that her daughter could easily lift her above her head one handed, something she actually did as a last ditch effort to prove to Joyce that she was indeed telling the truth, was something that even now made her shake her head in disbelief.

During her absence the others had tried to explain the situation to her, and looking back she was appreciative of it, but at the time she hadn't been able to take much of it in. Mr. Giles had given her an academic description of what her daughter was and his role in her life, which had ended with her knocking him on his ass and yelling at him to leave. Willow had made several abortive attempts to explain, but she either changed the subject before she could finish or she spoke so fast Joyce didn't catch a word of it.

It was Xander that made the biggest inroads when it came to helping her with her fears. He was the only one who told her, with sometimes brutal honesty, what Buffy and the others had dealt with since their arrival in Sunnydale. He had reminded her of every time she had thought something strange had occurred, only later to think it was something innocuous, especially the time at the parent teacher evening when she had hit that 'person' over the head with an axe. To be told, and to actually believe, that he had in fact been a vampire and Buffy and the others had driven him and the others with him off, made her feel extremely proud of, and afraid for, her daughter.

While she could understand Buffy wanting to spare her just how dangerous their lives were, knowing that they had faced sometimes seemingly insurmountable odds and survived gave her hope.

It also helped that Xander seemed unaffected by the experiences he'd had, and was even able to make light of otherwise life and death situations. She remembered having to suppress a smile at the deep blush that appeared on his face when he recounted an incident concerning a love spell where all the women of Sunnydale had fallen in love with him, an episode that she had passed off as a strange, if somewhat pleasant, dream.

As he talked, it was as if a veil had been lifted from her eyes and she began to see things in a different way, most importantly that she didn't own a barbecue fork so there was no way she could have stabbed herself with one. When she told Xander this he had explained that she had in fact been bitten by a vampire by the name of Darla, whom she was happy to hear had been killed not long after.

Now there was another girl in Sunnydale that shared Buffy's duty/calling/whatever you wanted to call it, and she was moving in with herself and Buffy. The reason for there now being two Slayers, she didn't like that name but used it to appease her daughter, was due somehow to Xander, although no one had explained it to her satisfaction concerning just how he had done it.

When it had been explained to her the circumstances surrounding Faith's arrival in Sunnydale, she had immediately offered her a room, not even needing to think about it. There were some legalities that would need to be resolved, but Mr. Giles had assured her that they would not be a problem, as his employers had experience in this area. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but said nothing in case it caused further problems.

Tonight would be the first proper night in her new home, last night didn't count due to the circumstances, and Joyce had taken the day off to prepare her room and ensure that they all had a nice meal to celebrate the fact. Giles would be joining them as well, to explain the situation to Faith and what they would like to do.

Using the Council's influence, they were going to make Joyce Faith's guardian until she turned eighteen, where they would review the situation and see what she wanted to do. That gave Faith two years for her to work out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, beyond her slaying duties.

Personally Joyce had always wanted another child, another daughter in fact. Having Faith live with her and Buffy meant that she got to have that, without having to go through the pregnancy, labour and baby years. She just hoped that Buffy could adjust to having another person around.

For the last couple of years, although they may not have been exactly usual, Buffy has had Joyce's complete and undivided attention. Even during the Ted incident, which freaked Joyce out a little given what she now knew he had been a robot, she still gave Buffy most of her time. Now though her time would have to be split between her and Faith, for favouring one over the other would only lead to problems.

She decided not to dwell on that too much right now, as that was something that wouldn't really come in to play for a few weeks, after the transitional phase was over and they had all settled in.

The sound of someone knocking on the door brought her out of her internal monologue and, after putting the finishing touches on the apple and blackberry pie she had made and put into the oven to bake, went to open it.

The explosion that greeted her sent Joyce flying through the air, and she was unconscious before she hit the ground.


	11. Chapter Ten

_**Chapter Ten**_

**Revello Drive,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Faith had never seen anyone move as fast as Giles had when they saw the explosion. He practically leapt out of the car, barely remembering to use the brake to ensure that it did indeed stop, and he had managed to outpace her to the house even with her enhanced speed.

As they reached the threshold of the house, which was billowing thick black smoke and spewing fire, Faith heard him murmur something under his breath in a language she didn't recognise and the fire and smoke disappeared as if it were never there, ensuring he had no obstacles in his way as he stormed inside.

What she saw when she got inside half a heartbeat behind him made her flash back to what happened to Linda, and she suddenly found herself unable to move. Joyce was laying a few feet away; several large wood splinters from the door imbedded in her body, and a small but growing pool of blood surrounded her as it seeped from her body. She was ghostly pale and completely still, too still for Faith's liking, and she could just feel she was slipping away.

She was beginning to harden herself against the inevitable when she started to feel her skin tingling, like she was holding one of those static electricity makers she saw once in school, and suddenly a bolt of pure white light shot from Giles and into Joyce. It went on for several seconds before it dissipated, and the Watcher looked extremely unsteady on his feet afterwards.

"Faith…"

Giles' mumbled call to her snapped her out of her immobile state, and she managed to grab him before he crumpled to the floor. "What the hell just happened?" she asked, more out of shock than anything else.

"In layman's terms I just gave her some of my life energy," he replied, his breathing laboured. "You need to find a phone and call for an ambulance."

Looking at Joyce, she could see that she did indeed look better, and her heartbeat, something she'd been focussed on from the moment they arrived, also sounded stronger. How long that would last however was anybody's guess.

She could tell from the look on his face that Giles was not in the mood to discuss what he'd just done, not that she had much of an idea what he did anyway, so she decided to focus on his second sentence.

"That boom was pretty loud G, I'm sure someone already called."

"Faith, this is the Hellmouth and it's after dark."

It took a moment for his statement to sink in, but when it did her eyes widened at the implications. Linda had told her about how living on a Hellmouth made a person either ignore the strange sights and sounds they might hear, or pretend they were something more mundane, unless they were strong enough in character to cope with the reality. The problem with that was it was difficult to tell the difference between human strangeness and demonic strangeness, which meant that things like explosions might never be reported to the cops or anyone else.

"Right, I'm on it." She went to let go and noticed his inability to stand. "You gonna be okay?"

The older man was touched by the genuine concern he could hear in her voice. "That spell took quite a lot out of me," he admitted, not that he could pretend otherwise, "but I assure you I shall be fine. Go, call an ambulance, I'll sit here with Joyce."

Faith nodded once before helping Giles to the floor and going off in search of a phone.

**Willow's bedroom,  
Rosenberg Residence,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"Okay, so you've decided that you like Xander in a boyfriend-y way, I've given you the Willow Seal of Approval, so now what?"

Buffy and Willow were currently lying face down on Willow's bedroom floor, relaxing for a while before patrol. Buffy knew that her mom and Giles wanted some time alone with Faith to discuss her situation, which worked out nicely for her as she wanted to discuss the whole Xander situation with her friend.

Of course, just because she wanted to talk about it, didn't mean she knew what she wanted to say.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Are you gonna ask him out? Are you gonna persuade him to ask you out? Are you…"

"I get it Will," she said with a smile, cutting her off before she got up a head of steam. "To answer your questions, I don't know. I've been doing a little casual flirting, you know, to test the waters."

"And?"

"Well, despite the fact that I am a master at casual flirting, this is Xander we're talking about and we both know he's pretty clueless about this sort of thing. Although, I have seen moments when there looked to be some interest there. He hasn't appeared upset or wigged out by it when he did notice I was flirting, so that's definitely a positive. The thing is, we've only just got back to being on speaking terms; I don't want to risk losing that on an uncertainty."

"I understand, but I don't think you have too much to worry about. If you had a chance of losing Xander, it would have been the last few weeks. He'd tried time after time to make peace with you, and you blew him off each time."

"I'm almost certain I've never done that to Xander Will," Buffy told her with a smirk, her mind having conjured up some… interesting images based on Willow's choice of words.

"What do you…" she trailed off for a moment, reviewing what she said, before her eyes went so wide and bulging they looked like they might fall out. "I didn't mean that!" she exclaimed, her face changing colour to match her hair. "You have a dirty mind!" she accused, wagging her finger at the blonde Slayer to emphasise her point.

"You said it, not me."

"Getting back to my point," she said, pointedly ignoring the 'I'm so innocent' look Buffy was sending her way, "Xander didn't have to keep trying to fix things between you, especially given the whole dislocated jaw thing…"

"Something I've just realised I haven't apologised for," she said guiltily.

"… So the chances of him ending your friendship because you made a pass at him are somewhere between slim and none," Willow continued, sending Buffy a mildly reproachful look at her confession, "especially as no man could ever get annoyed with a hottie asking them out."

"I guess you're right, I am a hottie after all, but I still think it might be a bit soon."

"Hey, I'm not going to rush you into anything," she said, wanting to calm her friend, "I'm just saying that when you do feel like it's the right time, you don't need to worry about ruining anything."

"Willow honey, someone on the phone for you!" Willow's mother called out from the downstairs hallway.

"Thanks mom!" she replied.

"How come your phone didn't go off?" Buffy asked, indicating the antique looking telephone on her bedside table.

"Mom took a conversation I was having with Oz out of context and she revoked my phone privileges."

"But your phone is still here."

"It's not plugged in."

"Why don't… you know what, don't worry about it."

"Willow!" her mom called again, this time less patiently.

"Coming mom!"

Willow darted out of the room, leaving Buffy to her own devices. Buffy thought it cute, if a little strange, that Willow was respecting her parents' wishes, despite no incentive to do so. She guessed that it might be guilt over the 'conversation' she was having with Oz, meaning that her mom didn't take it as much out of context as her friend said. She'd have to remember that so she could tease her about it when she came back.

Willow had certainly come out of her shell in the last couple of years; while Buffy doubted that she would ever completely shed the shyness that was so prevalent when they first met, Willow certainly seemed more comfortable in her own skin, no longer worrying so much about what others thought of her.

She just hoped that the magical incident at Xander's place, which still sent a shiver down her spine when she thought of it, was an isolated case and not the beginning of something serious; she didn't want to see her going the same way as Catherine Madison.

"Buffy!" Willow shouted as she came barrelling back in. "That was Faith on the phone, there's been an explosion at your place and your mom's been hurt!"

Admittedly, Willow knew she could have told Buffy a little gentler than she did, but she was a little shell-shocked herself. She didn't get a chance to say anything else to her friend, as Buffy had already left the house… via her bedroom window, probably not wanting to take the time to bolt down the stairs and use the front door.

Knowing that she didn't have a hope in Hellmouth of catching her, Willow decided that this was enough of an emergency to reconnect her phone and call Oz to drive her to the hospital.

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"Welcome to my humble abode dad."

Xander waved Jarod into his home with a flourish, hoping that his dad would like it. Neither Tony nor Jessica ever gave him much in the way of parental approval, even before they told him about his 'adoption', but he hoped that would now change with his biological father's arrival. He wasn't aiming for declarations of pride or anything, just a simple 'I like it' would be enough to satisfy him. Thinking about it, he should invite Joyce over as well at some point.

"It looks a little like some of the places I've stayed in," Jarod commented, his tone clearly showing his approval, "except I never hung around long enough to furnish the place. This feels like a home."

Xander beamed at the compliment, happy that his dad thought that way. "Yeah, well, if you stayed for more than a month at a time in any one place, maybe you could have a home too."

"Even if I weren't on a pretend, I'd find it difficult to stay in one place for too long. I'd been cooped up in the same place for over three decades, apart from a short stay in Africa I'd rather forget, with no say in the matter. Now I'm free, I'm enjoying the knowledge that I can just move whenever I like."

"Oh I understand that, but I'd appreciate it if you could try and stick around for a while. It feels nice to have a parent around that I can stand to be in the same room with."

"You know I can't promise anything Xander," Jarod replied, saddened by the true longing in Xander's voice that he'd almost hidden, "but I give you my word that I won't go anywhere unless I have no other choice. I know that's not exactly what you want to hear…"

"Dad," Xander cut in, "I know what your life is like, although a lot of that is your own fault, so I know you can't exactly lay down roots. I'm not asking for any more than you can give, but be warned that Giles and the others might not be as understanding, and they aren't backward in coming forward if you know what I mean."

"I would be worried if they weren't upset, as they wouldn't be the people you described or I've met. I don't like the situation myself, but until it's safe for our entire family to settle down, this is the way it has to be."

The ringing of Xander's phone ends the conversation, and he goes over to answer it.

"Hello… hi Faith, what's… we'll meet you there."

The look on Xander's face as he slammed the phone down was one of barely suppressed rage and Jarod just knew that he'd just received bad news.

"What's happened?"

"We've got to get to the hospital, Joyce has been caught in an explosion."

"Accident?"

"Not fucking likely," he growled as he stalked to the back of the warehouse, Jarod following him.

"Xander…"

"Not now dad," he interrupted, "just get in."

"Get in what?" he asked, not able to see anything in the darkness of the warehouse.

"This."

Xander flicked the light switch and Jarod found himself not three feet away from a jet-black coupe that didn't really fit any known make or model that Jarod was aware of.

He didn't have much time to admire the aesthetics, as Xander was already in the driver's side with the engine on. He quickly slipped into the passenger side and managed to close the door before Xander slammed his foot on the accelerator, barely getting under the rising metal gate.

"Nice car," Jarod commented calmly as he fastened his seatbelt, just in case.

"Thanks," Xander replied absently, focussed more on the road ahead than his dad, "this was one of the first things I built after setting myself up at the warehouse. It felt good to work with my hands, and it helped me focus when I needed to work through something. I've built a bike too, but I didn't think it would be safe for either of us for me to ride it right now."

Jarod could see that despite the calm demeanour Xander was valiantly trying to portray, his son was hanging by a thread emotionally. While Jarod had decades of training on how to separate himself from his emotions, a skill he both thanked and condemned Sydney for, Xander didn't, and it was at the moment his greatest weakness.

From their communications, Jarod knew how important Joyce Summers was to his son, filling in the role of mother figure that had been vacant for so long, and knew that he would have to keep a close eye on him to ensure he didn't do anything… rash.

He knew though that once he knew the details of Joyce's condition, Xander would begin to overcome the blanket of emotions that shrouded him, and start to focus that worry and anger into a fine beam, aiming it right at the guilty parties. That realisation made Jarod almost felt sorry for those responsible for the explosion.

Almost.

**Revello Drive,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"I've done everything I can Joyce, the rest is down to you."

Giles reached over and took Joyce's hand in his own, a faint but noticeable glow appearing for a moment before fading away, an after effect of the spell he had cast. The matriarch of their little 'family' looked better than she did, but her injuries were still severe and if help didn't arrive soon her odds of survival were slim.

He just hoped that she did indeed pull through, otherwise his sacrifice would be in vain. While his life was not in immediate danger from his actions, it had been shortened; each person only had a finite amount of life energy and, when it was all gone, so were they.

How much time he had lost was uncertain, it could be as little as a couple of weeks and as much as several years; the spell put a cap on the amount of energy one person could transfer to another, a safety measure to ensure a caster didn't inadvertently give too much and die. He would have had a more accurate idea had he been able to prepare, but he had reacted on gut instinct and therefore 'shot from the hip' magically.

In any event, the amount he'd lost was inconsequential if it meant he'd helped save Joyce's life. He feared for Buffy's mental state if her mother were to die through supernatural means. He knew that she would be inconsolable should Joyce die for any reason, but she would no doubt blame herself if the cause were esoteric in nature.

He had been silly to tell Faith what he had done, knowing full well that she would relay the information to the others once the immediate situation had been dealt with, but he wasn't exactly thinking clearly enough at the time to filter his thoughts like he would normally. Not that they could do anything about it after the fact, or before it given it was his decision to make, but he had learnt that little things like that never stopped Buffy from making her views on the subject abundantly clear, sometimes repeatedly. It was one of her more negative qualities, the belief that she had a say in every aspect of everyone's life, and one that he had regrettably allowed to flourish by not standing his ground as often as he should.

Xander too was never shy from voicing his opinion when he had one, Giles couldn't remember a time when Xander didn't have an opinion come to think of it, but he at least would be more… reasonable, realising that whether he liked it or not, the choice had been his to make and he had made it. Giles had found that sometimes Xander disagreed with people purely to be Devil's Advocate, ensuring that they had actually thought through the decision instead of going into things blindly. He had to give the young man credit for the times he stood up to Buffy, a daunting prospect at the best of times, and downright dangerous once she was set on doing something.

He was pulled from his internal musings when Faith returned from wherever it was she went to phone the ambulance; her features still looking pale and drawn whenever she gazed upon Joyce.

"They're on their way."

"Excellent news. I would try and tend to some of Joyce's wounds, but I might exacerbate the situation given the splinters in her body."

"I'm guessing you've already done more than most. I checked the speed dial and called Xander and Willow, they'll meet us at the hospital."

"Did you get to speak to Buffy?"

"No, Red cut the connection before I could ask."

"That's probably for the best, however I would imagine that we may well see her here any moment now."

"Can't say I'd be the same if it were my mom, but then our mom's are pretty much polar opposites."

Giles was tempted to comment on that, but realised that now might not be the best time. It was easy to see that Faith needed to feel more comfortable with him before she would divulge her history with him, and he would give her that time.

The sounds of sirens were for once welcome, meaning that Joyce would soon be in the hands of professionals. As he saw them pull the gurney out the back of the ambulance, he spotted a blonde blur speeding its way towards the house.

"Faith."

The raven-haired girl turned to look at her W… to look at Giles, and saw him indicate behind her. Turning to look, she spotted what he wanted her to see and went to intercept her sister Slayer.

Rushing outside, Faith managed to grab Buffy by the arm before she could go charging inside, keeping her out of the way long enough for the paramedics to get in and get to work.

"Faith let go of me!" she screamed, trying desperately to break free of the hold Faith had on her, but their matched strength and Faith's superior leverage made it impossible.

"Not until you've calmed down a bit B," Faith told her as calmly as she could, her voice strained from the exertion of keeping the older Slayer in place. "You go in there like you are now, you'll only make things worse."

"That's my mom in there!" she yelled, continuing her futile struggle.

"I know, but if you don't let them do their job you won't have a mom much longer."

Faith knew that she was walking a fine line with Buffy, being as frank as she was, but she needed to get through to her and beating about the bush ain't gonna do shit. She silently breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Buffy sag in her grasp, before she turned round and clutched at her like a life preserver. Faith had never been too comfortable with the whole touchy feely stuff, at least outside of the bedroom anyway, but she did her best to comfort the now sobbing blonde in her arms.

After a couple of minutes, the paramedics came rushing out of the house with Joyce n the stretcher. Faith released Buffy and after giving a quick nod in thanks, she took off after them, wanting to be as close to her mother as possible.

"I'm sorry miss, but you can't…"

The paramedic's attempt at refusing Buffy entry trailed off as she lifted him into the air by his jacket one handed, pinning him with a look she normally reserved for a particularly annoying vampire.

"That's my mother and I'm coming with you."

Trent Bertran had lived in Sunnydale all his life and knew what went on after dark, so he wasn't as flustered with being manhandled the way he was as others might have been, although he did think that a change of clothes might be necessary. He also wasn't dense, so he knew there was only one way he could answer without joining the lady in the ER.

"You got it."

After being let down reasonably gently, he indicated for Buffy to get in before him, once again showing his intelligence as well as his manners, and they were soon on their way to the hospital.

As they watched them leave, Giles turned to Faith and put a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Thank you for doing that Faith; I'm sure dealing with something like this so soon after…"

"I'm five by five G," she cut in quickly, "don't worry about me."

"I'm afraid my dear that worrying is something that is inherent in my nature," he replied with a slight smile, "especially when it is concerning someone I care about." Upon seeing the look of surprise he received from the young woman, he continued. "I know that we have not known each other long, but I do care about your well being, and while I know you have not known me long enough to make a decision on whether to trust me, I would like you to know that if you would like to talk to me, about anything, you need but ask."

"Um, thanks."

"No need to thank me Faith," he told her gently, "it is what friends are for after all. Now, I suggest that we make our way to the hospital, so we can try and prevent Buffy and Xander from levelling the place before Joyce gets the necessary treatment."

**Wilkins Municipal Hospital,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Xander parked a block away from the hospital, something that Jarod found strange but declined to comment. He had done enough things that to others would seem strange or downright insane; he wasn't about to point it out when someone else did it.

As they reached the entrance to the ER, they were met by Willow and Oz. The Wicca wasn't looking all that hot herself, and it looked like she was being held up by her lycanthropic boyfriend.

"Where's Buffy?" Xander asked, knowing she was spending some 'girl time' with the redhead before patrol.

"When I told her what happened, she ran off, probably home," Willow replied, sniffling slightly.

"Hey," Xander said, going over and hugging his friend, "Mrs. S is tough, she's gonna be fine."

"You don't know that Xander."

"Of course I do. She promised me a batch of her double chocolate brownies and she has yet to deliver. She always keeps her promises, so she'll be fine."

Willow knew better than to try and refute Xander Logic, so she nodded in agreement.

Conversation stopped as they spotted an ambulance coming in. They quickly got out of the way as the paramedics stopped right outside the entrance, where a doctor and a couple of nurses were coming outside to meet them. The doors to the ambulance opened and they spotted Buffy holding her mother's hand, tears streaming down her cheeks. She let go of her mom only long enough for the two paramedics to get the stretcher out of the ambulance, both of them sending worried looks the blonde Slayer's way.

Knowing that the doctor and nurses would need Buffy out of the way to do their job, Xander went over to his friend and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. She turned to look at him and, just as he was about to speak, she span round and buried her head into his shoulder, hugging him with enough force that he actually began to see spots in front of his eyes. Her emotional state was impairing her ability to control her strength and he was getting the full brunt of it.

"Buff…"

His strangled whisper triggered in her mind and she relaxed her arms, allowing him to take a breath. It also however allowed him to feel the intense pain in his ribs caused from the Slayer sized bear hug. He just hoped she hadn't broken any ribs.

Knowing that she was in no condition to do it herself, Xander gently began to lead Buffy inside, where the others had already gone. Now he was getting blood to his brain once more, he was glad that he hadn't any trouble in getting Buffy out of the way, knowing just how obstinate she could be.

Not the he would have blamed her for wanting to stay at her mom's side, but Buffy had this personal space bubble that only those closest to her were allowed to breach and, at times when she was acting more on instinct than anything else, anyone who got inside that bubble usually ended up damaged in one way or another. He had feared that they would have run out of medical staff before they had a chance of making Joyce better, visions of the halls littered with unconscious doctors and nurses running through his mind.

He was thankful that his dad was with them, as he was dealing with the medical staff, using his killer combination of charm and intelligence to win the admin staff over. It helped that Sally was running the desk tonight, as she was defenceless against a good-looking man of any age, something they had taken advantage of on more than one occasion to the embarrassment of himself and Giles, depending on whichever of the two wasn't concussed upon admittance.

The Watcher in question and Faith arrived about ten minutes later, Giles looking less than 100 percent and Faith looking more than a little jittery. Xander was able to quickly guess Faith's reason for acting that way, given what she'd told them about what happened to Linda, but he was uncertain as to why Giles suddenly looked so unwell and… old. It wasn't that the Englishman had physically aged, but that he looked more fragile. He could tell from the glances Faith sent his way every now and then that she was worried about him, which was both good and bad. Good because it meant she cared, bad because there must actually be something wrong.

That wasn't something he had the time or energy to focus on right now, Buffy and Mrs. Summers were his priorities right now. He knew that Faith would look out for Giles, and with her being a Slayer he doubted that Giles would be able to put up much of a fight even if he tried.

Now they all had to do something that they hated.

Wait.

It was four hours later and they were still waiting, albeit in a different part of the hospital now. After they'd patched her up enough, a thought that caused Xander to shudder, they had taken her up to surgery to remove the splinters that had embedded themselves too close to either organs or arteries to do so anywhere other than an operating theatre.

While he hated to admit it, Mrs. Summers had been extremely lucky; had any of those splinters gone in half an inch to the left or right of where they were, she'd be in the morgue right now instead of an OR.

His anger over the whole situation was reaching critical mass and he had so much nervous energy stored up right now that they could probably power the hospital off him. It didn't help that he wasn't able to move; Buffy had become like a human limpet and had attached herself to his side, preventing him from pacing. Not that he minded being in such close proximity to her, in fact under different circumstances he'd be thanking any and all deities in existence, but right now it was purely for comfort and nothing else. In fact, until they'd dealt with Kakistos, he'd decided to ignore any and all romantic signals sent his way, either real or imagined. The multi-millennia old master vampire was simply too dangerous for his focus to be split. Afterwards however…

"Excuse me, are you here concerning Joyce Summers?"

Everybody's heads whipped round to the source of the voice, causing the doctor to step back slightly in shock. This wasn't the first time he had seen this particular group in the hospital, and was aware of what they did, so for them all to be looking at him with such intense expressions was more than a little intimidating.

Jarod, continuing his role as spokesperson, stood up and shook the doctor's hand. "Yes we are Dr…"

"Ramorez, but please call me Drake. I just wanted you all to know that the operation was successful. She is critical but stable; we're moving her to the ICU now. She isn't quite out of the woods yet, the next 24 hours will be the most telling, but if everything goes to plan I see no reason for her to make a full recovery."

The group breathed a collective sigh of relief at the news, a lot of the tension they'd been feeling leaving their bodies.

"Thank you Dr. Ramorez," Jarod told him sincerely, "that's the best news we've heard in a long time."

"No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job."

"Can we see her?" Buffy asked, finding her voice at last.

"She's still unconscious at the moment, but as long as you don't stay for too long I don't see a problem with it. Just make sure that you go in one at a time."

"Thank you again Doctor."

Nodding in acceptance, Dr. Ramorez left them alone to assimilate the information.

Xander saw that Buffy wanted to go see her mom now, but for some reason was reluctant to take the first step. "Hey Buff, let's go see your mom."

"Xander, I…" she trailed off, not sure what she was going to say in the first place. She knew how hospitals worked, she'd been in them too often for one reason or another to not know, but she'd had this notion that when the doctor eventually came to talk to them, it would be to say they could take her mom home.

For as long as she could remember, her mom had never had anything worse than a cold and had not needed to be in hospital. Even when Darla had bitten her that time, she only needed a small bandage that had been applied with professional efficiency by Giles. She had always been so strong, and Buffy was afraid of what it would do to her when she saw her lying in a hospital bed having just gone through major surgery.

That thought gave her pause. Since she'd been brought into the loop concerning her Calling, her mom had seen her battered and bruised several times after coming back from a particularly gruelling patrol, and every time she had helped her tend to her wounds without flinching, when no doubt seeing her only daughter in obvious pain was probably like a knife to the heart. She owed her mother no less than to do the same for her; she owed her a helluvalot more in fact.

After giving Xander a gentle squeeze in thanks, feeling a pang of guilt as he winced anyway from her initial rib-crushing embrace she'd locked him in, she stood up. "Let's go."


	12. Chapter Eleven

_**Chapter Eleven**_

**Miss Parker's Residence,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Miss Parker had never really been one to willingly get up early, despite having to be awake at the crack of dawn most days to get to work, but with the conversation she'd had with Jarod running at the forefront of her mind all night, she had all but jumped out of bed the moment her alarm sounded.

Jarod could be, and most times was, the most annoying person she knew, which given the people she conversed with on a daily basis was a lofty declaration, but he had never led her astray, and she knew with absolute certainty that whatever he had sent her would be everything he suggested it was. There was a strong feeling of dread that accompanied the anticipation, mainly because she was sure she was not going to be happy with what she was about to discover, but she would rather be hurt by a truth than a lie.

Drinking her third coffee of the morning, liberally laced with her favourite Russian spirit, she stood guard over her front door waiting for the mail to arrive. She had already called Sydney and explained that her ulcer was playing up and wouldn't be in until the afternoon, ensuring she had plenty of time to digest whatever information she was about to receive.

Finally, the sound of the mailman trudging up to her door signalled the moment of truth, and a single large manila envelope appeared through her mailbox a moment later. It never had a chance to hit the ground, as she grabbed it the moment it fully came into view, and quickly rushed over to her living room couch before carefully opening it. The moment she saw the distinct logo of the Centre, the rest of the world faded away as she began to read what she knew would be one of the most important documents in her life.

* * *

Miss Parker felt numb.

She knew that the Centre had done some despicable things in its time, but reading about what they had done made her wonder if she could ever walk into that accursed place again without burning it down to its foundations.

She and Jarod had a son, a son that had been grown in a lab like some sick sci-fi plotline. Her father had signed off on the project, knowing that a child of two Red Files would exceed the genius of its parents. Raising it from birth would help eradicate what happened with Jarod and the others that escaped that night years ago, and ensure that they had a steady income from the sims they could sell.

Despite the revulsion she felt for her father and everyone else in the know about the project, she couldn't help but feel as though she had been given back a piece of her soul that she didn't realise had been missing.

She remembered the procedure she went through almost two decades ago, having been told by her doctor that she had a cyst that needed to be removed. She had no reason to believe he would lie to her, as he had been her doctor for as long as she could remember, but knowing now the way things worked for those within the Centre she should have known better.

Getting a sample from Jarod would have been pitifully easy, especially during the years when he believed he was helping the world with the simulations he went through.

Their son, for she could not think of him in any other way, had been taken from the Centre when he was but a baby from what the report stated, leading to a car chase that left all participants dead and burned beyond identification. They had made a thorough search but had been unable to tell whether the baby was even in either car or not, so bad was the fire. Not seeing any way a newborn child could have survived such an accident, The Centre had hailed the project a failure and buried it with all the other projects that would turn the most hardy of stomachs.

She knew with every fibre in her being that her… that their son was alive. There was no way Jarod would have revealed this to her the way he had if he weren't; he would have arranged for them to meet somehow and told her in person. No, their son was alive and if she had to guess her Pretender was with him right now.

Her Pretender.

It was the first time in a long time that she had ever allowed herself to think of him like that, as hers. The last time she had done so was just before her father had shipped her off to Europe to complete her education. Her talk with him last night must have broken down more of her defences than she thought. That was a dangerous thing to happen; especially now she had finally found a reason to leave the Centre for good. If her father or the living ghoul Raines, not to mention her maybe-brother Lyle, became suspicious of her, her very life might be forfeit.

She did know one thing; the only way The Centre would ever get their hands on her son or Jarod now was over her rotting corpse. The problem with that was she knew it would be a price they, including her father, would willingly pay.

Knowing she could not leave these documents lying around, as she was almost certain that Raines had one of his cronies search her house periodically, she reluctantly went over to her fireplace and placed them there, setting them alight moments later. Her only consolation was that she knew that one day soon she would meet her son in the flesh, and she couldn't wait.

**Sunnydale General Hospital,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Jarod looked in on Joyce, seeing that Buffy hadn't moved from her position at her mother's bedside. The young woman was currently asleep, although from the unnatural angels her body was in it couldn't be a restful one, and noted that the arm of her chair had been crushed from the pressure of her grip. Her other hand was holding onto her mother's, and Jarod guessed that she put her frustration into the chair to ensure that she didn't inadvertently hurt her mother by squeezing to hard.

Knowing just how important she was to Xander and the others, Jarod had decided to ensure that we would put himself in a position to oversee her treatment, which had only taken a little computer hacking to achieve. Dr. Ramorez was a fine surgeon, and the Pretender could see no problems with the work he had done, but knew that his son would feel a lot better if her were the one to be caring for Joyce from now on.

He checked his watch and noted that she would soon need to be in school, so he gently made his way over to her and spoke softly in her ear, being mindful not to get too close. Xander had warned him about Buffy's personal bubble, and didn't want to be on the receiving end of the young woman's ire.

"Buffy, it's time to wake up."

Jarod jumped in surprise as Buffy went from asleep to completely awake within moments, quickly looking around the room before her gaze fixed upon her mother. He watched her battle with her emotions, not wanting to break down like she had last night.

"Not a dream," he heard her mutter, her voice breaking ever so slightly. Her head then swivelled round to look at him, her eyes widening slightly upon confirmation that she wasn't alone with her mother. "Hey Jarod," she said quietly as she got up to work the kinks out. "What time is it?"

"I'd say that you have enough time to get ho…" he trailed off as he realised that her home was still a crime scene and therefore would not be allowed in, "… over to Willow's to get ready for school."

"I'm not leaving," she stated firmly, moving into a more intimidating posture that, if Jarod were any other person, would have had him quivering.

Jarod almost smiled at the tone and stance she had used, having heard that tone used by Miss Parker so often. "I'm afraid that you don't have much of a choice at the moment Buffy, as the visiting hours have been over for quite some time. It's only because the new chief of medicine," he pointed to himself, "authorised it that you were allowed to stay as long as you have. Also, don't forget that Principal Snyder does not hold you in a favourable light and is looking for any reason to suspend or expel you. Even though these are special circumstances, I highly doubt that he would take them into account."

Buffy tried to look defiant during Jarod's explanation, but found that somehow she began to see what he meant. Whether it was his tone, or because he was Xander's father, or just because she could just sense his trustworthiness, she was unable to come up with a rebuttal that wouldn't make her sound like an impetuous child.

Jarod could tell the moment he had won the argument and took a risk by moving closer and placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing slightly. "Buffy, I will be here to ensure nothing happens to your mother. She will get the best care available, and she has already shown a marked improvement from when she first came in. She'll be up and around in no time," he told her sincerely, projecting as much comfort as he could.

Buffy looked up at him and gave him a tremulous smile. "Thanks Jarod, I'll see you later," she told him, going over and kissing her mom on the forehead before grabbing her bag and leaving the hospital room.

**Sunnydale High School Library,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Xander and Giles were currently in the middle of a spot of sparring, as the Watcher had hinted that he would like to assess Xander's level of skill first hand. He had already heard from Buffy how adept at hand to hand he was, staking two vampires in a two on one situation was no small feat for someone not blessed with a Slayer's strength or reflexes, but Giles wanted to know whether Xander had any training with bladed weapons.

There were of course ulterior motives behind his request, and especially the timing of it. Firstly, he wanted to give the young man something to take his mind of off the situation with Joyce, something Giles wouldn't mind doing himself if her were being honest with himself.

Secondly, he wanted to see whether Xander's skills were enough to assist him with training Buffy and Faith, as while he wouldn't consider himself over the hill by any stretch of the imagination, the prospect of training two Slayers was more than a little daunting.

It hadn't taken long for Giles to note that Xander would be more than up to the task of assisting him. While some of Xander's moves looked a little stiff, as though he had never actually used them on another person, he had quickly lost that and had soon proved to be as good with a sword as Giles himself, although his lack of actual combat experience did show from time to time.

The same could have been said with the quarterstaff, and again while Xander's moves looked a little wooden, pardon the pun, he was soon giving as good as he got. In the end, Giles found himself to be highly impressed with Xander's skill and stamina, and wondered just how hard it had been for him to hide so much of what he could do from everyone.

As Xander managed to disarm the older man with a quick flick of his wrist, taking advantage of Giles' minor lapse of concentration, and the Watcher put his hands up to signal that he wished to end the spar.

"Excellent work Xander, I have to say I am highly impressed with your fighting prowess. How long did you say you've been training for?" he asked, finding it difficult to believe that he had progressed so far in such a short time, especially when he had been training covertly.

"Since just after the Harvest," Xander replied, knowing that Giles was still coming to terms with everything he had told him and the others, "but I haven't really done much in the way of weapons training, as I didn't want to run the risk of joining a dojo and one of you finding out."

"I find that hard to believe Xander," Giles said, "given the level of skill you have shown."

"I have read every book I could find on the different styles of fighting, many in their original language," he explained, knowing that it may come off as being boastful, but needing to bring home just what he was capable of, "and have memorised and practised the different forms at the warehouse, but this was the first time I have been able to put what I have learnt into practise."

Giles looked at Xander in shock as he began to comprehend just what he had been told. He knew from what Xander had told him that Pretender's had the ability to quickly absorb and apply knowledge, but he hadn't been able to understand quite what that meant.

He had seen Jarod at work assessing Faith's injuries when she had fallen in from the skylight, and would have easily believed him to be a fully trained medical professional, but given Jarod's age Giles hadn't really taken into account just how long it had taken the man to be so proficient.

For Xander to tell him that their spar had been the first time he had actually used the skills that, before today, he had only read in a book and tried to copy on his own, was simply mind-boggling. If he so wished, Giles had no doubt that Xander could easily become the most highly skilled fighter on the planet, and most probably before his twenty-first birthday.

"I take it from your look that you've just become to realise what it means to be a Pretender huh?" Xander asked, a small smile visible on his face as he picked Giles' staff up from the floor and walked over to the book cage.

"Good lord."

"Yeah, but there's a flip side to it Giles," Xander told him, his voice becoming a little darker.

"What is that?" Giles asked, concerned that whatever abilities Xander had might be harmful to him.

"As a Pretender, I can sim what a person would do under given circumstances. It can be useful, but the problem is that the better I know a person the easier I can predict what they may or may not do. I now know all of you well enough that I actually have to put effort into not simming you."

"I can understand why that might cause a problem," Giles conceded, "but I have trouble seeing that as a downside."

"Do you know how fine a line it is from being able to predict a person's actions to manipulating them?" Xander asked rhetorically. "A word to right person at the right time, and I could nudge people into doing almost anything I want, and while there might be times when that would be a good, thing, the temptation to use it for more personal reasons becomes stronger every time."

"I take that is the reason you're still not with Buffy then?" Giles asked, a small smile on his face.

The Xander of a few days ago would have been completely thrown by Giles' comment, but that Xander had been no more than a character in a play. The real Xander, while surprised that the older man had said anything, wasn't in the least bit surprised that he'd made the connection so quickly.

"Pretty much," he admitted. "While I can't say the thought never crossed my mind, any relationship I have needs to be genuine for it to have any meaning to me. I sometimes feel that I disadvantage myself at times by overcompensating; I strive so hard not to use my abilities to influence people, that I sometimes ignore genuine signs of interest in case it was due to an unconscious influence."

Giles knew enough not to mention Willow's infatuation with the young man, especially now that her attentions were now on Oz. The Watcher had always had an inkling that Xander wasn't as obtuse concerning her feeling as he let on, and this new revelation just confirmed. He did wonder why he hadn't let her down gently, but given what he said about over compensating, Xander might not have been able to think of a way to do so.

"Well, I have no doubt that you will persevere," Giles told him confidently, showing Xander that he had faith in Xander's ability to resist temptation.

Even if he hadn't found out about Xander's abilities, Giles knew that the young man would never take advantage of Buffy or any other woman in such a way, his actions last year when every woman in Sunnydale lusted after him proved that beyond any shadow of doubt. Knowing that Xander no doubt felt uncomfortable with the current topic of conversation, he moved on.

"I have a request to make," the Watcher began. "Now that we have two Slayers I will find it difficult to effectively train them both, so I was hoping that you would assist me."

"Of course, but won't the Council be sending another Watcher for Faith," Xander asked, having already given the situation some thought.

He had not doubt that Giles would have been able to train both Faith and Buffy adequately, but knew that the strain of training two Slayers would quickly take its toll on the older man, and had already decided to broach the subject of helping him I the near future.

"I presume so," Giles replied, sighing slightly at the thought, "and I appreciate that you didn't use the word replacement, but I am becoming less enamoured with the Council and it's head in particular."

"I don't blame you; Quentin Travers would fit right in with the major players at The Centre, and that is in no way a compliment."

"From what you have told me about that place I'm sure that it isn't. I fear that whoever he decides to send will be more of a hindrance than a help, and if he were to hear of your abilities would no doubt report it to Travers immediately, which would not be in your best interests I can assure you."

"Oh believe me I know that, which is why we'll need to come up with a way to neutralize him as a threat to us sooner rather than later. Of course we need to deal with Goatboy before we can do anything else, and I thank you for trying to take my mind of it for a while."

"You're more than welcome my boy, I must admit that I required something to occupy my mind as well. As we're on the subject, have you or Jarod come up with a way to deal with Kakistos?"

"We have a few ideas floating around, which we will run through with you and the others tonight, but my bigger concern is assuring that Buffy doesn't decide to take the bastard on my herself, which given her history and state of mind is quite probable," Xander said, his concern over Buffy's mental state obvious.

"As long as whatever plan we use has a prominent role for her, and we convince her that her mom wouldn't want her to take unnecessary risks, I'm sure that we'll be fine." Giles noted the look he was receiving from Xander and sighed slightly. "No, I don't really believe that either."


	13. Chapter Twelve

_**Chapter Twelve**_

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Miss Parker strode through the corridors of the Centre, her posture positively screaming 'come near me and die'. She had a vague notion that she might be overdoing it a little, but she wasn't certain that she had adequately rebuilt her walls after this morning's revelation, and the last thing she needed was for anyone, and especially Raines, Lyle or her father, to notice.

As she finally reached her final destination, her office, Miss Parker shut and then locked her door, went to her chair and slumped down into it, and then suddenly felt drained without having actually doing anything to warrant it. She had gotten so used to portraying herself as the 'Ice Queen', that she hadn't realised just mow much of an effort it took to maintain it, and it felt even worse now that she genuinely didn't want to anymore.

It had taken her until after lunch to get herself to a state where she wouldn't try to kill those responsible for the heinous acts against her, and allow her rational, analytical side to take over. It was a good thing that she had, for the first person she had seen as she drove up to the building was the thumbless wonder himself, who she had been avoiding like the plague ever since his comment concerning Tommy's death, and took the smart way out and held back until she saw him enter the elevator before venturing inside.

There were several things she wanted, no,**needed **to do straight away, but with the way things were around here at the moment she would need help to accomplish them. That meant entrusting either Sydney or Broots with the latest revelations that Jarod had given her, or at least enough to make her case at any rate.

While she wouldn't admit it out loud, Miss Parker trusted both men with her life. They had both colluded with her before, and had given her more than one alibi when either Raines or her father demanded to know her whereabouts. They both wanted to do what was right, but often found themselves put in situations where they had little option but to do the exact opposite to ensure they alive long enough to truly make a difference.

For Sydney, it was to atone for being part of Jarod's incarceration for most of his life, and for a multitude of other things that haunted him when he closed his eyes or went to sleep. She knew that Sydney had been in contact with Jarod outside the scope of their hunt for him, and had turned a blind eye to it, mostly because she knew that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, but also because Jarod was the closest thing Sydney had to a son, and she included his recently discovered child Nicholas in that.

While Miss Parker knew that Sydney would help her if she asked, it would be even easier to acquire his assistance if he knew that he would also be helping Jarod.

Now Broots honestly confused Miss Parker, as until he had been made a part of her team, he had been a non-entity within the Centre, and was certainly the most... innocent of the trio, or at least had been. Initially she hadn't trusted Broots at all, but then she rarely trusted anyone she didn't know, or even those that she did, so that hadn't exactly a surprise, and she hadn't made things easy on him either, especially in the beginning of the search, as she had not been pleased that she'd been brought in from Corporate to clear up someone else's mess, even if she had made that deal with her father to be allowed to leave the Centre once she had.

However, as time went on, she began to first tolerate, and then later trust, him more and more, which had a lot to do with the way Broots had gone out on a limb for her on more than one occasion when he really had no real incentive to do so, beyond her threats of violence.

Although she knew that Broots' infatuation with her had certainly been a mitigating factor in his providing her assistance, Miss Parker soon realised that his loyalties were to her before the Centre. Miss Parker knew that his 'crush' on her was more for show now, and had been for some months, something that not even Sydney had figured out. Why he kept up the pretence she wasn't sure, although it was probably for the same reason she kept up her 'Ice Maiden' persona, but she wasn't about to call him on it, at least not until she thought his goals conflicted with hers.

She didn't believe that would happen, but if there was one thing her father had taught her that she actually believed, it was that you should never trust anyone completely. There was of course one notable exception to that, but again, she wasn't about to let anyone in on that, at least not until she let him know first anyway.

There was **one **thing that Miss Parker wasn't entirely sure about when it came to the technician, and that was what Broots' ultimate goal was; she knew he had a hidden agenda, just as Sydney and herself did, but it didn't seem to have the same personal feeling to it. Her need to find out the truth behind her mother's death, and Sydney's desire to make amends for the things he had done were what drove them, but she had no idea what it was that drove Broots. She would discover it eventually, but at the moment she had bigger things to worry about.

Her first thought was to find out more information on her son, particularly on what they had done to him that they thought would make him better than any 'home grown' Pretender they had, but realised that if Raines or her father got even the slightest inkling she knew of the project, things would become far more dangerous. Instead, she decided to find out once and for all just who her brother really was, silently hoping that it was Angelo and not Lyle.

If Angelo was her twin, it would make things a lot easier in her eyes, at least when it came to the time for 'dealing' with Lyle. It also meant that she would have to find a way to free Angelo from his captivity, although she often had the impression that if he truly wanted to leave, Angelo wouldn't have any problem in doing so, and had proven it when he had gone to help Jarod save Davey from the same fate as himself when he had been young and called Timmy.

Either way, she had no intention of allowing Lyle or Raines from using him as a tool the way they had been, whether he was her brother or not, and had already thought of several different plans to ensure that. She may not have the same training as Jarod, but she was **still** a Red File, and that meant she was as capable of working through different scenarios as any other Pretender, it's just that it took her longer to do so.

Every scenario she was working on had the same ultimate goal in mind; to bring the Centre down, literally if at all possible. However, she knew that one had to walk before they could run, and set about working out the logistics of retrieving Lyle's, Angelo's and her own blood samples and having them tested.

* * *

"So, Miss Parker, what was so important that you had Broots and myself meet with you inside Jarod's old quarters?" Sydney asked a couple of hours later, Broots nodding his head to indicate that he too would like an answer.

"I need your help to see whether Lyle is truly my brother," Miss Parker told them bluntly.

"I was under the impression that you already had evidence that stated he was, so why would you need to check again?" Broots asked, confused by both the request itself, and the way in which Miss Parker had made it.

"I spoke to Jarod..."

"Wait, you spoke to **Jarod!?"**Broots interrupted sharply, which caused Sydney and Miss Parker to look at him a little oddly, as he was rarely so upfront.

"Yes, and he made me realise that if Angelo was in fact my brother, my father would not be very happy with the way he's been treated all his life and, more specifically, that it had been done behind his back."

Sydney noted that Miss Parker had not called her father 'Daddy', as was usually her wont, and the way she believed he would react to hearing that Angelo was his son instead of Lyle, and filed it away for future reference. "The news would certainly make things far more... precarious here," Sydney agreed, "at least until the winds changed and Raines and your father was once again working together, but can you trust that Jarod is correct?"

"He didn't tell me whether Angelo was my brother or not, he simply pointed out the possibility and suggested that I check for myself. Anyway, can you trust the information Jarod gives **you**?" she retorted, deciding to make Sydney aware that she knew about his own communications with the Pretender.

Broots looked between the pair and was surprised that he'd never realised that they had outside communications with Jarod that they kept to themselves. Now that he thought about it, he shouldn't be all that surprised; Em and her father had both mentioned that they believed one of the reasons Jarod left a trail for the Centre to find was because he wanted to remain in contact with the pair, and also took considerable time to explain their opinions on it.

Whenever they went on one of those rants, Broots had remained quiet, as he knew the only person who could persuade them of his intentions was Jarod himself, and that if he tried to defend either Sydney's or Miss Parker's actions it would only lead to another argument.

To Broots' mind, it only went to further prove that Miss Parker and Sydney were the exception that proved the rule in the Centre, as had either one of them **truly **intended to bring Jarod back, they could have used that communications against him. He would have hated that to happen, as he considered them both to be friends, which was the reason why he had been compiling evidence to show the extenuating circumstances behind some of the less lawful actions they had undertaken on behalf of the Centre, in order to help shield them when the hammer fell.

"Alright," Broots said, deciding to step in before the two could say something they would both regret, "whether Jarod's telling the truth or not, I know which one **I'd**rather be related to, so I can understand why you'd want to check," he told her.

"I too, can understand your reasoning for wanting to be sure, and you know that I will help however I can, so how exactly can I, we, help?" Sydney asked.

"Thank you," Miss Parker told the pair sincerely before she began her explanation. "Now, with your brother on that wild goose chase, Broots, this will be the best time to get the samples we'd need from the medical department, but it will be too suspicious if I go..."

"So you want either myself or Broots to go in your stead?" Sydney finished for her.

"Exactly."

"Then why ask both of us?" he asked. "You only require the assistance of one of us for this."

"Because to only ask one of you would suggest that I wanted it kept from the other one, and I've, quite frankly, had it up to here with keeping things from the two of you," Miss Parker told them with a frustrated sigh, knowing that she had said too much but found that she didn't care.

Miss Parker knew that her conversation with Jarod had undone a lot of the barriers she had put around herself, and that her life would be far safer if she were to just put them all back into place, but if she did that it would be tantamount to giving in, allowing the Centre to win, and that was something she would**never **do.

Those barriers would still be there for the majority of people, but Miss Parker was also aware that to live, and not just survive, she had to let people in, and she couldn't think of anyone better to start with than the two men in front of her.

Both men were greatly surprised by Miss Parker's confession, as while they both knew that she trusted them, at least to a certain degree, they never believed that she would want to be so upfront with them about anything. They were happy about it, of course, but also a little wary about what had prompted it, as it was the polar opposite of the way both men knew she acted, Sydney even more so than Broots.

"What's happened, Parker?" Sydney asked softly, knowing she would be aware what he meant by that. "Why the sudden change?"

"I can't go into that," she replied, "at least not yet, but I need to check just who I'm related to before I do anything else."

"I can get in and remove the samples we need," Broots told her, "I have a program that will cover my tracks, and I can also do the tests you need. The good thing about working in the Centre is that everything we have is state of the art, and in some instances even better than that thanks to some of Jarod's inventions, so it won't take long to get the results back."

"Thank you, Broots," she told him sincerely.

"Not a problem, Miss Parker," Broots replied. "I hope you get the news you're looking for."

With that, Broots went off to set up the program to ensure that security had no idea what he was doing, leaving Sydney and Miss Parker alone. He'd rigged the security cameras in Jarod's quarters to show a continual loop of an empty room, just to be on the safe side; hardly anyone ever went there to check on it the last year or so, as there was no point in checking on a room that was no longer in use, but it was always a good idea to err on the side of caution when dealing with the Centre.

"Okay, Parker, just what the **hell**is going on?" Sydney asked bluntly once Broots had left the room. "You've seemingly changed personalities overnight, and while I'm not exactly upset by the sight, it does make me worried what has happened to cause it, for it must be something monumental."

Miss Parker closed her eyes and sighed; she should have known that Sydney wouldn't have let it be, not that she could blame him. This did, however, lead in to the perfect opportunity to discover if he was aware of the project that had... created her son. Created. It was such a sterile, clinical term, not befitting any child, and especially not her own.

"Sydney," Miss Parker began tentatively, "have you ever heard of a project called Genesis, that would have been an off-shoot of the Pretender project?"

When she saw the glint of recognition in Sydney's eyes, Miss Parker felt a sudden stab of betrayal, as she started to think that he had been in some way party to what Raines had done, but that feeling changed to worry as Sydney's face turned a deathly white, and he stumbled towards the nearest chair, and only just made it before he lost the ability to stand.

"Oh dear God, they did it, didn't they?" Sydney whispered brokenly. "Raines and your father, those, those..."

"Sydney," Miss Parker said urgently as she knelt down before him, "please, take it easy and calm down."

"Those monsters did it, I never thought they'd succeed, but they did. Madeline, Madeline must have known, that was why she..." he trailed off and Sydney's eyes snapped on Miss Parker's. "When Madeline came to me and let me know what they were planning, I never thought they would be able to do it, that was why I never tried to stop them. Please, Parker, you have to believe me that I would have done **everything **I could to stop if I thought they had even the slightest chance that..."

"Shh, Sydney," she soothed softly, cutting him off before he started to hyperventilate again, "I know."

Miss Parker did know that Sydney wouldn't be party to anything so atrocious, and had immediately felt guilty for thinking, however briefly, otherwise. Sydney had been party to a lot of things that had happened in the Centre, Jarod's incarceration being the major example, but he would never have been party to what her father and that ghoul Raines were trying, and she knew that he would have done whatever he could to prevent it had he believed them capable of success, even if it killed him.

"Madeline was one of the lab assistants working under Raines," Sydney continued, sounding much calmer now he knew that Miss Parker didn't hold him responsible, "and was privy to the Genesis project. When she died in the car crash almost twenty years ago, I knew that there had been Centre involvement, but believed it to have been because of her relationship with myself, but it was because of Genesis, wasn't it? She tried to stop them, and they killed her for it."

"I'm going to answer your question, Syd," Miss Parker assured him, "but I need you to remain calm about this. If you do anything rash, like try and kill Raines again, they'll kill you, and I don't want that to happen, and neither will Jarod." She waited for his nod of acquiescence before she continued. "Yes, Madeline killed because of Genesis, but not for preventing it, but for **stealing **it."

"What do you mean, steal it? Madeline would never try and steal the research..."

"I don't mean that she stole the research to sell it, I mean she stole Genesis."

Sydney's eyes bored into Miss Parker's, and he could see that she knew exactly what Genesis was, and how it was linked to both her and Jarod. He had considered trying to do something bout the project when Madeline had first revealed it to him, but he had thought that not even the Centre's technology was advanced enough to genetically create a human ex vitro as they had planned. He had felt nauseous at the whole idea of it, especially as they were using the DNA of Jarod and Miss Parker to do so, but his belief that they were tilting at windmills had been enough to prevent him from challenging Raines and Mr Parker over the project.

To know that they had actually **succeeded,**and that Madeline had died in her attempt to stop them from using an innocent child to further their schemes, and bank balances, filled him with grief, not only over a woman he had cared a great deal for, but also for an infant that had died before it...

"Genesis is alive, isn't it?" Sydney asked in realisation.

Miss Parker paused for a moment, an internal battle waging inside her concerning whether to tell Sydney the truth or not. "Yes," she whispered eventually, "and its **he**, not it. He's alive."

"I knew it; there is no way that either you or Jarod would leave this place standing had it been otherwise."

"You can't tell **anyone**about this," Miss Parker warned him, "not even Broots. The less people that know right now the better."

"I understand, Parker, and I'll do everything I can to help you find him."

"Thank you, Sydney," she replied, feeling guilty that she hadn't let him know she already knew where he was.

Miss Parker now had a new mission in life; to assure hers, and her **true **family's, safety from the Centre, even if she had to pull the building down brick by brick to do it. To do that, she had to do something she didn't want; take a page out of Lyle's book and ensure that that only people that needed to know everything was told everything, that way if things went wrong they could deny any knowledge without having to withhold anything.

Mr. Swallow had to be taken out first, as he was an unknown as far as Miss Parker was concerned, and after that Lyle, Raines, and her father. Hell, if she had to, Miss Parker would take out the Triumvirate too if it meant being able to finally break free of the chains that kept her in this place.

And then, when the dust had settled and the Centre was no more, she could finally capture herself a Pretender, and she knew that this time he wouldn't be running away.

* * *

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Xander was currently cycling at a steady pace on his exercise bike, ignoring the fatigue in his muscles and the occasional twinge of pain in his chest. He'd had his dad check his ribs after they had got back from the hospital, not wanting Buffy to feel any more guilty than she already did by how hard she'd squeezed him, and had been glad to hear that none of his ribs were cracked or broken, although his torso would look like a single giant bruise for a few days.

Xander knew he hadn't helped things by agreeing to the sparring session with Giles earlier, but he'd needed the distraction and also had the unforeseen, but fortuitous, consequence of allowing him to get something off his chest, so to speak. He hadn't discussed his fear of manipulating his friends to anyone, not even his father, so it felt good to finally share it.

Xander was aware that he was seen by the girls as obtuse when it came to relationships, and in many ways they were right, but the thought of anyone, and especially Buffy, going out with him because he had somehow manipulated the situation was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

It was for that reason that Xander's relationship with Cordelia had surprised him; they had never gotten on since he'd defended Willow all those years ago, so he had never considered her as a potential girlfriend, and that had only been re-enforced when Jesse had shown an interest in her. He never questioned her interest in him as anything but genuine, as she was one of the most genuine people he knew, and knew that when she said something she wasn't sugarcoating it.

Cordelia's honest interest in him, which flew in the face if everything she had held dear, was enough for Xander to take the chance and see if it would work, and up until the blow-out upon Buffy's return, it had... for the most part. Yeah, there had been her reluctance to make their relationship public, and they had fought as often during their relationship as they had before their relationship, although he had to admit that the making up was a helluvalot better than before, but Xander also got to see the woman behind the vapid shell Cordelia had shown the world, in much the same that he had shown his goofball persona to hide who he really was.

In the end, it had been that same refreshing honesty that finally made Xander stop from trying to reconcile with her after Cordelia decided to break up with him. Xander knew that Cordelia had made her decision, and as he knew he wouldn't have been able to do anything about it without manipulating her in some way, had had abided by her decision, as he'd rather have a short lived but honest relationship than an extended one of his own making.

Xander also took more notice of Giles' comment about why he wasn't with Buffy **yet**. Xander knew that Giles was as bad at noticing signals as he was, and the Watcher didn't have the same reasons to justify it, so if he had noticed a change in Buffy's behaviour towards him, then he had to take them seriously.

Of course, Xander wasn't stupid enough to think anything would happen until after Joyce was better and Kakistos was dealt with, and he feared that the former would take longer than the latter, but he could live with that. Waiting was alright with him, especially now that he knew he actually had something to **wait**for.

After his training session with Giles, Xander had spent most of the day coasting through his lessons, which were surprisingly not with either Willow or Buffy, and he began to think more and more about whether he should just get his GED and leave early. Although the thought was tempting, if he did decide to do that, Xander would have to deal with Principal Snyder, who would no doubt try and stop him. While the odious little man hated Xander's guts, he also enjoyed having him around to berate whenever he had the opportunity, so he would try and put a stop to Xander leaving any earlier than was possible.

Xander had more than enough evidence against Snyder to get him fired, but then he could have gotten that **without**being a Pretender, so he had to wonder how a man so obviously inept at his job had kept a position like Principal for as long as he had. When Snyder had taken over as Principal after Flutey's death, the entire school body had hoped it would just be a temporary placement while they found someone... human to replace him, but it was now two years down the line and he was still terrorising the nation's future.

Xander had been worried about being the one to pull the plug on Snyder, as the same eyes investigating the prime example of why the human gene pool needed the occasional dose of chlorine would also turn their attention on **him, **and the risk of discovery had been too great. Now though, Xander was beginning to feel that his time hiding from the Centre was coming to an end, in one form or another, which was something that She agreed with, so now would be the best time to arrange for Snyder's removal, and if at all possible move Giles into the position of Principal, which would kill two birds with one stone.

On the topic of killing, removing Kakistos from existence had, of course, become his primary focus, and Xander was currently running through one simulation after another in his head on the best and most drawn out way to exact revenge for what he'd just done. Xander knew that the vamp was behind the explosion at the Summers place, despite not having evidence proving it, not that he needed evidence to kill a vampire, but it would tie everything up in a nice, neat little bow and if there was one thing that Xander didn't like it was loose ends.

Of course, Xander wasn't just grasping at straws when he accused the aged vampire of being the cause of Joyce's injuries, and had thought it through quite thoroughly. Xander deduced that it must be a pride thing; having told them the damage Faith had inflicted on him, Xander knew that the very visible sign that he could be bested would make Kakistos' standing within the demon world tenuous. Kakistos now had a big obsession with causing Faith misery, and trying to kill those she cared for was the easiest way to do just that. While killing Faith herself outright would be enough to gain a modicum of 'vengeance', Kakistos wanted to drive her to the brink of insanity, and only then, when she had no one and nothing left to turn to, and her own mind rebelling against her, would he finally deliver the fatal blow.

Xander hadn't wanted to bring his plans for dusting Kakistos so far forward, but with his own anger towards the undead bastard increasing exponentially, coupled with the knowledge that once Buffy put two and two together herself she'd go gunning for him herself, ensured that he had no choice. That meant that he had until around this time tomorrow before Buffy went on the rampage. Xander was more than aware that, if Buffy went after Kakistos in the emotional state she was currently in, there was more chance of her dying a second time than there was of her succeeding, especially as she would want to drag the fight out in order to make the vampire suffer.

The first thing he would have to do was find out where Kakistos was currently using as his base of operations, as it was pretty difficult to stake a vampire if you didn't know where they were. The most logical place would actually be nearby, as there were several warehouses in the area that were not currently in use. The thought that it was so close by was not a pleasant one, but Xander wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth if it was, as it only made things easier. He'd have to strike during the day to ensure there was nowhere to run, and it would also give him the element of surprise.

The urge to deal with Kakistos on his own was great, ans it wasn't only because he, too, wanted the vampire to suffer for the pain and anguish it had caused, not only to Linda and Joyce, but to the countless thousands that the ancient vampire, whose name translated as 'the worst', must have tortured and killed during its lifetime. There was the also the fact that a vampire doesn't get the reputation that Kakistos has without being formidable, and the thought of one of his chosen family getting injured or worse because they followed a plan he thought up sent a chill down his spine, which would not be a problem if he went solo.

Of course, if Xander **did **do that and somehow survived to tell about it, he'd be browbeat into submission by everyone after the fact, and would probably not go without hearing one or other of them berating him for being so stupid until the day he died, so going alone was out of the question.

Xander had a few ideas to ensure that they had the advantage when they did go after Kakistos and his cronies, but there was a lot of work to be done, and not a lot of time to do it, so he got off the exercise bike and made his way over to his living quarters to shower and change before making his first stop for supplies.

Once he had a few essential items, he'd then have to go for the final component, and was glad that the Fire Department was as inept as the cops, otherwise he might actually have to put some effort in.

* * *

**Sunnydale Fire Department,  
Sunnydale, California.**

Xander watched the fire crew go through their paces from his vantage point, keeping his body as flat to the roof of the building opposite as possible, just in case any of them decided to look up. They all looked bored, which didn't really surprise Xander given that he couldn't remember the last time there had been a fire, which given the way things went in Sunnydale was a little odd. The majority of them were actually part time firefighters for that very reason, which only made things easier for Xander's plan.

The prospect of 'borrowing' one of the firetrucks didn't really settle well with Xander, especially as he was certain they would notice it missing, but he simply did not have the time to build anything that would work anywhere near as well in the time he had left to prepare, and he couldn't wait until the last minute to appropriate it, as it would probably be too late by then.

Xander watched for another hour, idly noting that they actually seemed to be fairly competent, although with the amount of practise they had he would have been surprised otherwise. As the sun went down and they all went inside, Xander took his chance and leaped from the building, hoping that his latest invention would work otherwise he would be tasting concrete. He'd tested it at the warehouse with great success, but this was the first time he'd used it out in the field, and he hoped he wouldn't look like an idiot.

He held his right hand out and aimed at the lamppost before depressing a button in the palm of his hand. His inner geek rejoiced as the webline shot out as he'd practised, and attached to the top of the lamppost, his hand grabbing hold of the other end as gravity began to make itself known to him. He had to hold back the whoop of exhilaration he felt as he swung across the street, the theme tune to the old Spider-Man cartoon playing in his head, before he released the webline and somersaulted over the top of fire escape on the side of the fire station and landed smoothly on the roof, although he had to roll with the landing to minimise the impact.

Unlike the time when he'd requisitioned the rocket launcher for Buffy to use against the Judge, he couldn't just go in, take what he need and leave, as what he needed would be missed almost from the moment he took it, so he had to be a bit more sneaky. There was going to be a shift change in an hour or so, and that would be the best time to strike, as the old shift actually left a little before the new shift started, once again showing that Sunnydale's emergency services were the perfect example of how **not **to be run.

Xander wouldn't have long, only a few minutes or so, but it would be enough time to take the truck and leave a program in the computer system that would make the new shift believe that the others were called out to a fire. By the time they realised what had happened, Xander would be long gone, and no one would be any the wiser that he had been the one to do it. Xander jimmied open the roof access door, and then slipped inside the station house, and made his way towards the admin office and laid in wait for the guys to leave.

* * *

The hour was soon up, and the moment the man on call duty left the office, Xander slipped inside and uploaded the program, which would later double as a back door to their system so that he would have access from his own computer. It wasn't really necessary, as Xander wouldn't have any problem in hacking their system if he put his mind to it, but it was always wise to have a backup or two in place.

To be on the safe side, Xander waited until the last of the shift left the building before he went down to the vehicle bay and got behind the smaller of the two fire trucks they had available to them. He made short work of starting the engine and was soon driving away from the station house towards the warehouse, knowing that it would be a tight squeeze but having no other option but to keep it there for the time being.

As he drove the truck through the warehouse district, he noticed that one of the abandoned warehouses had their lights on, and his curiosity was further piqued when he saw a black man in a sharp looking suit exit the warehouse and climb into a sleek black limousine. Knowing that nobody normal would be using a limousine in this neighbourhood, Xander took note of which warehouse it was and put it at the top of his mental list of warehouses to check out.

* * *

When he got home, he found that his dad was there waiting for him, along with Giles and Faith, and the trio were looking at him oddly as he drove the firetruck inside.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this, Xander," Giles began as Xander alighted from the truck and walked towards them, "but could you please explain to me why you're inside a fire engine?"

"Simple really; this is full of water, which I'll ask Father Dowling to bless for me, and then we'll have something that should even affect Kakistos. With the pressure this water is under, especially after Dad and I tweak it a little, it'll flay the skin off any vampire's bones, even the cloven one himself."

"I hate to play Devil's Advocate here, but what if you're wrong?" the Watcher asked.

"Then even if it **doesn't**kill him, it will at least weaken or slow him down enough for the Chosen Two to do their thing. By the way, not that I mind, what brings you all here?"

"Faith and I were going to go on patrol while Buffy is with Joyce," Giles explained, "and I thought we'd drop by and see whether you wanted to accompany us."

"While I don't think I'm quite ready for patrol just yet," Jarod commented to his son, "I was hoping that you and I could spend some time together before I have to get back to the hospital."

"J, you heard the saying 'burning the candle at both ends'?" Faith asked, knowing that on top of his new job as Chief of Medicine at the hospital, he was still working at the high school. "Last thing we need is for you to be put in the bed next to Mrs. S when you pass out."

"My training has conditioned me to survive for quite some time without needing to sleep," Jarod explained, "and even then I do not need as long as most people, so there's no need to be concerned, Faith, although I do appreciate it," he told her sincerely, which caused Faith to duck her head a little.

Faith was still unused to people being nice to her without wanting something, generally something she didn't want to give them, and found herself being affected by them in a way she hadn't felt before. She still wasn't sure whether she liked it or not, as it made her feel vulnerable and that was something she didn't like to feel, but she wasn't going to complain about being around genuinely nice people, just in case.

"I'd love to come along, guys, but Dad and I have a few things to get started on before he goes to the hospital," Xander told them, his tone regretful, "but I may have a couple of things that will compensate." Xander walked over to a covered area, and removed the cloth to reveal a small workshop. "I've been tinkering around with several different ideas that I thought would help in the slaying business, but for obvious reasons I couldn't find a way to introduce them before without having you ask questions I didn't want to answer."

"You mean like those funky looking bracelets?" Faith asked, pointing to Xander's webshooters.

"Um, no. I don't think I'd hear the end of it from Giles if I let either you or Buffy have a pair of these."

Jarod took a closer look at the bracelets for a moment before his eyes widened as he realised just what they were, and he looked at his son with a mixture of shock and awe. When he'd read the comic he'd become fascinated with the character, especially the way he would use his brains as well as his brawn to save the day. He'd considered trying to recreate the devices himself, but he had never been in one place long enough to do so. "You made webshooters? Working webshooters?"

Instead of answering, Xander fired off a webline to the roof above them.

"Good lord," Giles breathed as he watched Xander climb the webline until he was a few feet in the air, just to prove that it would hold his weight. "I have to say that I agree with your assessment, Xander; I do believe I would have a coronary if I saw either Faith or Buffy use one of those devices. I have to say that I doubt such a thing would be missed, even here on the Hellmouth."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that one," Xander said with a smile, "which is why I'll only use them in an emergency. I just wanted to see if I could actually reproduce them."

"That's not fair!" Faith whined, thinking of all the fun she could have with them, but refrained from saying anything further. At least for now.

"As I was saying," Xander went on, ignoring Faith as he dropped to the ground, "I think I have a few things here that will come in handy."

"I can't wait to see this," Faith said excitedly, her mind whirling at all the things Xander might have concocted.

"I remember watching Blade, and when that female haematologist talked about EDTA, I did a few checks and found that it worked in a similar way on our vampires as well." Xander pulled out a couple of arm bracers that had a bladed weapon attached, with several cylinders filled with a blue liquid. "I've made a few rounds that will also work in a tranquilliser gun, but it's not exactly inconspicuous, but these should do the trick."

"How do they work?" Faith asked as he passed them to her and she put them on.

"Well, when you hit a vamp with one of these," Xander began, pointing to the blades on the front, "it releases the EDTA into its system. It reacts with the blood in their body, which has been changed by the demon, and basically causes them to explode within fifteen seconds."

"Sweet! I can't wait to test out these babies!" Faith exclaimed happily, a gleam in her eye as she thought of how many more vampires she could kill with her new toys.

"I also have something for you, Giles," Xander told him.

Giles looked at the lethal weaponry now in Faith's possession, and the technology on Xander's wrists that came right out of a comic book, and resisted the urge to clean his glasses. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

Xander smirked at Giles' tone and handed him a large, heavy torch. "I've been working on this one for a while, and while it's not as effective as the real thing, it still does the job."

"It's a torch," Giles said, actually sounding a little disappointed. While he was a little reticent over the inventions Xander had concocted – not because he didn't have faith in Xander's abilities, but because he still believed that nothing would be as effective in dealing with demons as the traditional weaponry the Council had been using for centuries – he had been wondering what sort of weapon Xander had thought to let him use.

"It's a torch that emits artificial sunlight," Xander corrected him, smiling at the widening of the Watcher's eyes at his comment. "As I said, it's not as effective as the real thing, but it will certainly make them think twice about coming at you. I know you'd have preferred another offensive weapon, but you yourself have told me that a Watcher's role was to support his Slayer, not wade in next to them."

"You do realise how unfair it is to use my own words against me, don't you?" Giles said with a sigh, acceding to Xander's argument, and reluctantly agreeing with it.

There would be situations when Giles would readily agree that he should be standing side by side with either Faith or Buffy, generally when it is a world ending scenario, but otherwise he should only step in if either Slayer actually needed it. Surprisingly, he realised that it was a policy that Xander also followed, although he was certain that Buffy would not agree. The times when Xander had actively joined a battle had always been on occasions where it seemed like Buffy would be in trouble, either because of the sheer number of demons she was facing, or because he believed her to be caught unaware.

The Watcher theorised that the reason Xander was berated for it, when Giles himself was not, was most probably due to the fact that Xander simply went out on patrol more often than he did. It made Giles feel a little guilty now, as he had never really tried to defend Xander's actions, and had allowed the young man to suffer through lectures from both Buffy and Willow on the subject. He was certain that, if their roles were reversed, Xander would have been more supportive.

"Don't worry, Giles, I'm not letting you leave empty handed in the weaponry department," Xander assured him, "just in case you **do **need to wade in." Xander then proceeded to give Giles a paintball gun, although even to someone who didn't know much about the subject could tell that it was more than that. "Don't ask me the specifics, as we don't have the time, but each pellet has a concoction of a few chemicals and a high concentration of genetically modified proteolytic enzymes that will, basically, dissolve the vampires."

"Are they dangerous to us as well?" Giles asked, looking at the weapon warily.

"Yes," Xander replied bluntly, "but not as much as they are to vampires. Proteolytic enzymes are what maggots use to dissolve necrotic tissue, but primarily leaves living flesh alone. That's why maggots are used in the cleaning of wounds, as they remove all the dead tissue, leaving only healthy tissue behind. The ones in the pellets work a great deal faster, although not as fast as my conscience is completely comfortable with, if I'm honest, but are still completely harmless to living tissue. Now the chemical concoction that I've put in along with the enzymes **are**dangerous to us, but I think that the benefits far outweigh the deficits."

"Alright, I shall try it out, but again I think that this might be something to use only if necessary, just to minimise the danger," Giles told him.

"No biggie," Xander told him, not bothered how his inventions were used as long as they were actually of use. "Now then, you two better be off, as those vamps won't dust themselves, mores the pity."

The pair nodded, and after bidding their farewells and promising to call when their patrol was over, Faith and Giles left the warehouse, leaving Jarod and Xander alone.

"So, Son, what is it you want to do without the others knowing?" Jarod asked once he was certain that Faith was outside of hearing range.

"There's a warehouse I want to check out, Dad, and you and I have the best chance of doing so without being spotted."

"Why's that?"

"I think it's where Khaki Trousers is holed up, although it could just be my paranoia rearing it's head. If it**is **the place, neither Buffy nor Faith would be able to leave again if it is, and even if they could they wouldn't be able to get close enough to be certain without the walking fossil sensing them. The others aren't trained in cover and concealment, and that leaves you and me."

"That makes sense, but, and don't take this the wrong way, are you sure that **you**can walk away if it is Kakistos?"

"I'm not going to say that it'll be easy, but in the words of of the great Mr. Spock, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

"Who is this Mr. Spock? I'm sure I've met all the teachers at the High School," Jarod asked, which caused his son to smile.

"I'll explain it to you later, Dad," Xander told him with a small laugh.

* * *

The two men moved like wraiths from warehouse to warehouse, keeping to the darkness so much that it was like they were the darkness. As they neared the warehouse that Xander had seen the limousine outside, always ensuring that they were upwind of the building as much as possible, he passed Jarod a thermographic camera, something he'd acquired whilst perusing the Sunnydale Wal-Mart, otherwise known as the local Army base, while he kept a lookout. He trusted his dad to watch his back, but he had more experience with the type of trouble they were facing, so it made more sense for him to be on guard.

"What is it that I'm looking for?" Jarod asked softly.

"Vampires are cold blooded, so if there's anything moving around in there ate room temperature, we've found our scumbag."

"How will we know that it's Kakistos, and not some other group of vampires?"

"Because Willy would have told me if any local boys were thinking of moving into my neighbourhood," Xander replied, "as he knows what I'll do if he doesn't. If there are vamps in that warehouse, Kakistos **will**be one of them."

Jarod nodded once in acceptance and continued to search the warehouse for any sign of movement. He found it difficult to detect whether there was anyone, or anything, inside the warehouse for the exact reason they were using it; the vampires blended in with the heat sources, or lack thereof, around them, and he had to pay close attention to notice any fluctuations caused by any movement.

It took a couple of minutes, but Jarod was eventually able to make out the movements of around a dozen vampires, and from their interactions had been able to gather that the master, presumably Kakistos, was in the rear of the warehouse. The others would move from that room to the main area of the warehouse, and would always go down on bended knee before they entered or left Kakistos' presence.

"Well, there's definitely vampire activity inside, so I guess we've found their base of operations," Jarod said quietly, still mindful of their position. "All we have to do now is figure out how to deal with it."

Xander looked at his watch and noted the time. "That's something I can work on tonight. We better get back; you're shift starts soon, and if you can it would be a good idea to get Buffy to get some rest, as we're gonna have to do this just after dawn."

"Why then? Any time during the day would be advantageous to us," Jarod pointed out as they began to move away from the warehouse back to Xander's place.

"From what Giles told me, and from my own research, while vampires do not necessarily need to sleep during the day, they do feel more lethargic at and just after dawn," Xander explained. "The effect may well be diminished in Caracas' case, but it would still be the best time to strike to maximize our advantage. It won't take me long to modify the water pump to increase the power," he went on, "and I'll ask Father Dowling to make a late night call to bless the water. I also have a few more 'toys' that will come in handy, not to mention the old staples of stakes, swords and crossbows. We're gonna get the son of a bitch."

Jarod was a little disconcerted by the gleam in Xander's eyes when he said that, but he understood the reasoning behind it and had felt a similar sensation on more than one occasion on a Pretend. He hoped that his son would not let it consume him, although in his case he could actually kill the object of his rage, which was one of the plus sides to fighting demons he supposed.

If only Jarod could say the same of Lyle.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do with Buffy, but you do realise if I mention Kakistos it will be... difficult to keep his location away from her," Jarod told his son, Xander holding back a laugh at the understatement his dad just uttered.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Xander replied as he placed the thermographic camera back into the bag and pulled his dad into a hug, suddenly hit with the urge to do so. "Have fun being surrounded by sick people, and I'll call you when everything's set."

Jarod just nodded in reply, a little shocked by the hug to speak, and the pair went their separate ways.

He knew that Xander was a tactile person as a rule, but that had always been with women. With men Xander was far more reticent to get close enough to touch, or be touched, which Jarod knew came from wanting to be out of striking range when around his adoptive father. His son had never told him that, he hadn't needed to; Jarod had enough experience to notice the signs, and was dismayed to have seen them in Xander.

Before too long, he would need to have a word with Tony Harris about the proper way to treat a child, and he'd need to do it before Parker turned up, something he knew would eventually happen, as she'd just kill him. Reserving some processing power to run simulations on the best way to deal with Tony, Jarod made his way to the hospital.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

**Abandoned Brownstone,  
Albany, New York.**

Lyle had been called many things in his life, but patient was most definitely not one of them, which was why he was currently sitting in a darkened room with a pistol in his hand, waiting for Mr. Swallow to arrive.

While he had initially agreed to the plan that Broots had, surprisingly, thought up back at his ever-loving sister's place, it was now in Lyle's opinion far too long a time to wait to be rid of the thorn in everyone's side that was Mr. Swallow. He had only been around for a short time, but Mr. Swallow had been throwing his weight around from the moment he entered The Centre, and quite frankly making everyone's life, and more importantly his own life, a misery.

To that end, he had decided to... expedite matters and get rid of Mr. Swallow as soon as was possible. Lyle knew that Mr. Swallow was following the lead that Broots had manufactured, and also knew where that lead would take him, so he had planned on being there when the human behemoth arrived so he could put an end to this most recent nuisance personally.

Mr. Swallow may have the clout of the Triumvirate behind him, but Lyle was not worried by that, because he had no intention of letting anyone know he was the one that pulled the trigger. If, in the unlikely event that the finger of blame were pointed at him, Lyle had every intention of framing good old Jarod for the murder. After all, it was Jarod's lair that he would be found in.

There would, of course, be a couple of obstacles to overcome, but ultimately nothing he couldn't handle. His sister, Broots and Sydney would of course know otherwise, but they wouldn't be able to say anything about it, at least not without having to then explain how they knew. Having the team that were tasked with Jarod's capture fabricating leads on his whereabouts would not be well received by his father, or the Triumvirate, so he knew they wouldn't put their necks on the line.

Oh, Lyle knew that they would try to stop him if they knew what he was up to, which was why he had taken the unwelcome provision of flying to Albany using a commercial airline instead of one of The Centre's private jets. He flew first class of course, but it was still a distant second.

Jarod was obviously another obstacle, but in Lyle's eyes only a minor one. The erstwhile Pretender had himself previously shown that he was capable of taking another person's life, although under extreme circumstances, but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Mr. Swallow would put him under extreme circumstances. All Lyle would need to do was reiterate that the last thing Jarod wanted was to return to The Centre, and both his father, and the Triumvirate, would have no choice but to believe him.

"Sometimes I love my life," Lyle said quietly to himself with a smile as he continued his vigil, confident that he had thought of everything.

* * *

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"Sometimes I hate my life," Xander groaned softly to himself as he listened to the argument currently taking place between Buffy and Giles.

Faith wisely stayed well clear of the altercation, instead using the training equipment he had to burn off some excess energy from patrol.

The moment his dad had informed her that they were going to go after Kakistos, Buffy had immediately made her way over and pretty much demanded to know where he was so she could go and kick his ass. While Xander had no problem with her plan, he did have a problem with the way in which she wanted to implement it, as he had no intention of doing a 'Butch and Sundance' unless there was no other option, and there were plenty of other options available to them.

The trouble they had was making Buffy realise that. Buffy was still clouded by her anger over what happened to her mom which, while understandable, was going to get her killed if they didn't get her to see reason. Xander could tell that she was still in some way thinking rationally, as she hadn't just run off to find Kakistos on her own instead of trying to argue her position, but he could tell from her agitated movements, and by the way her voice was steadily rising in volume, that it wouldn't be long until she did just that.

That was something Xander couldn't allow to happen, so he knew he had to step in before either one of them said something they might later regret, or worse, wouldn't be alive long enough to regret it.

"Buffy," Xander said, drawing her attention immediately, "I know you want to rip the bastard to pieces because of what he did to your mom, and believe me I'm with you 100 on that, but what he's done to her now is nothing compared to what would happen to her if Joyce were to wake up in hospital and be told that her daughter was dead, because that is exactly what's going to happen if you don't calm down and listen to what Giles has been trying to tell you for the past ten minutes."

Xander knew that it wasn't the best way of putting things, but he had to draw her attention away from Giles, and realised that he didn't have the time to take a more subtle approach, but then again he found that Buffy didn't always get subtle, especially when she was acting the way she was at the moment.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, his plan certainly worked its purpose, as Buffy quickly forgot all about Giles and got right in Xander's face.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" she demanded angrily, her emotions fuelling her anger.

Xander didn't react to her tone the way he used to, knowing how well that used to turn out, and instead maintained his calm. "I'm your friend, I care for you a helluvalot, and don't want you to die. We have a plan to take Kakistos out that minimises the chance of us dying, and I don't know about you, but I think that staying alive really should be a priority, don't you?"

Later on, if anyone were to ask, Buffy would say it was Xander's calm response that extinguished a lot of her ire, but in truth it had been his assertion that he cared for her a lot. She wasn't sure, but she thought she noted a change in his tone when he said that, which gave her hope that he still thought of her 'that way'.

In any event, Buffy quickly found that her anger dissipating, and in place of it tears began to form in her eyes. "I see her lying there, not moving an inch, and I keep thinking that if Mom had been closer to the door, or if Giles had been further away, I'd have... lost... her..."

Buffy trailed off as the sobs she had been trying to hold back broke forth, and Xander immediately pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her and led her to the nearest couch.

"Shh, hey, everything's going to be fine," Xander told her soothingly as he gently rocked her back and forth, "you're mom's going to be fine, Kakistos is going to be dead, and everything will be right with the world once more."

"You promise?" Buffy asked softly as she got herself under control.

"Cross my heart," Xander vowed fervently as he reluctantly let her go, knowing that he would fight to his last breath to keep that promise. "Now, why don't you go play with the training gear I've got – something you've been wanting to do since you saw it – while Giles and I get everything ready, okay?" he suggested as he passed her a tissue.

Buffy took the tissue gratefully and wiped her eyes, before she nodded her acquiescence. "Alright," she replied, before she gave him another quick, but no less heartfelt, hug and joined Faith in the training area.

"Xander, I don't know how you always manage to get through to her, but by God, never stop doing it," Giles told him with a relieved sigh as he sat down next to the young man and watched while the two Slayers put Xander's equipment through its paces.

"Cross my heart," Xander vowed again fervently. "Okay, why don't you call Willow and Oz over while I continue working on the fire truck, and then ask Father Dowling to come and do his thing. We'll work out the finer points of the plan once Dad gets here, and then we'll get this party started."

"I do hope that we can keep both Buffy and Faith occupied between now and then," Giles commented, "otherwise we'll never get anything done."

"We heard that!" Faith called from the pommel horse, twirling around it in a way that would make an Olympic gymnast green with envy.

Xander laughed quietly to himself as he heard Giles grumble about the unfairness of it all before he made his way to the phone, and then went back to work on the fire truck.

* * *

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

Broots was currently in one of The Centre's labs, waiting for the results of the DNA tests he'd run for Miss Parker. The only light in the room came from the VDU in front of him, but he had worked many a night in similar conditions so he was used to the gloom.

Since he'd left Sydney and Miss Parker in Jarod's old quarters, he had been replaying the conversation they'd had in his head, whilst trying to work out what must have happened for her sudden change in attitude.

Broots had long known that Miss Parker had more to her than the Iron Maiden persona, although it would take someone interacting with her as often as he, and Sydney, did to notice. He didn't blame her for the way she acted, as it was the only way to survive as long as she had in The Centre, and especially in her family. He'd always hoped that she would begin to distance herself from the rest of the Parker clan, and it looked like she was finally starting to do just that.

He'd caught the way she had referred to Mr. Parker not as Daddy, but as her father, which was the first time that had happened from what he could remember. It was when she spoke about Angelo, and that he might be her brother, that it really showed that she no longer had rose tinted glasses on when it came to her father, as she herself had pointed out that he wouldn't so much be outraged by what Raines had done to his son, but that it had been done without his permission.

Broots had long held the opinion that Mr. Parker would sell his own grandmother if he thought it would further his goals, an opinion that he knew was shared by both Sydney and Jarod, and while he was happy to see that it looked like Miss Parker also felt the same, he was also saddened by it, as Broots knew she had always held out hope that Mr. Parker would one day become the father she had so dearly longed for.

Despite that, it did mean that when the time came to bring The Centre down, the was a greater chance of ensuring that Miss Parker didn't go down with it.

The beep of the computer, which indicated that the test had been completed, brought Broots out of his inner musings, and as he printed out and read the results, his eyebrows went higher and higher up his forehead. He'd decided to be more thorough in his tests than Miss Parker had originally asked, as he hoped to give her some piece of mind in knowing just who she was and wasn't related to within The Centre, and he'd not only found the answer she was looking for, but several that she wasn't as well.

"God, she is going to flip when she sees this," Broots groaned, worried that this may well be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Knowing that he dare not waste any more time, Broots made sure to wipe all trace of the tests from the system, and then left the lab for Miss Parker's office, knowing that the next hour or so would not be fun. If he was lucky, he might see Sydney before Miss Parker and persuade him to give her the results in his stead, but with the way things had been going for him lately, Broots very much doubted it.

"Oh well, once more into the breech and all that jazz," he said to himself with a sigh before he left the lab.

* * *

**Abandoned Brownstone,  
Albany, New York.**

Lyle was startled for a moment when he heard the front door open, and was glad that he'd left the safety on the pistol, otherwise he would have just had a nasty accident. It did make him realise, however, that he needed to relax if he had any chance of catching Mr. Swallow unaware, and made a visible effort to calm down as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

As a rule, Lyle tried to keep emotion out of the killing process, as it allowed him to prolong the event, and therefore left him with more memories of it. The only time he hadn't had been his first kill, but he had been young and foolish back then and had time to hone his skills.

He continued to listen avidly as the footsteps continued up that stairs and then towards the door, and a moment later the knob turned and the light from outside began to illuminate the room as the door opened. As soon as Lyle saw the unmistakable form of Mr. Swallow standing before him, he released the safety and emptied the full clip into him centre mass. It wasn't the most satisfying kill he'd done, but he didn't really have the time to follow his usual routine and had to make do.

Any satisfaction Lyle had felt soon disappeared when Mr. Swallow didn't fall down like he had expected, and he heard the sound of metal hitting the floor. At Mr. Swallow's feet, he could see the light glittering off the flattened bullets, and knew that he was in deep trouble.

"Do you like it?" Mr. Swallow asked as he continued into the room. "My bosses wanted to ensure that I wouldn't get caught out by any surprises, what you just tried being a prime example."

"The Triumvirate don't have access to anything like that," Lyle said in shock while he feverishly tried to think of some way to get out of his current predicament.

"I didn't say the Triumvirate," Mr. Swallow told him, "I said my bosses."

Before Lyle had a chance to react to his last statement, Mr. Swallow seemed to blur for a moment, and an instant later found himself lifted off the ground, Mr. Swallow's large hand clasped around his throat. Lyle tried to say something, and remove Mr. Swallow's vice-like grip, but found it nigh on impossible to do either, so he had little option but glare at him hatefully.

"You know, I had been given orders not to kill any of the major players within The Centre, at least not until Phase Two had begun," Mr. Swallow continued, his tone giving no indication that he was slowly choking Lyle to death, "but I think that they would understand that a little weeding was necessary in your case."

He leant in closer to Lyle, who by now had begun to turn blue from lack of oxygen. "I know about your side projects, Lyle, and from one monster to another, you do good work, so I look forward to finding out what you think about my own technique. You're going to get an up close and personal look at it."

The last thing Lyle saw before he finally blacked out was Mr. Swallow's sinister smile.

* * *

**The Centre,  
Blue Cove, Delaware.**

"If this is your idea of a sick joke," Miss Parker growled at Broots as she read over the test results, "I swear I shall pull out what hair is left on your head one strand at a time."

Broots looked nervous, which was understandable as he knew it was never a good idea to get on Miss Parker's bad side, but his expression didn't falter, nor did he back down. "I checked the results twice just to be certain, Miss Parker; they came back the same way each time. As for this being a joke, well, I would have thought you knew by now that I wouldn't do something like that to you."

Reluctantly, Miss Parker had to admit that Broots was right; sometimes his humour passed her by completely, but it just wasn't his style to play with a person's emotions like that. Once she realised that, she tried to calm her ever increasing ire, and at the very least made an extra effort not to shoot the messenger.

"So, Angelo is my twin brother, not Lyle," she said after a moment. "That's actually good news, as the thought of being a direct relation to the thumbless wonder made my ulcer flare up, but the rest..."

"Believe me," Broots said when he saw that Miss Parker was still unable to vocalise what she'd just discovered, "if I'd had any idea this might have happened, I would have never run the other tests. I just wanted to give you irrefutable proof of who you were and weren't related to with The Centre, and only chose to put him in the mix because I had thought there was no way there would be a link between you."

"Raines is my father, Broots!" Miss Parker snapped. "You can't get any more of a link than that!"

"What the devil is going on in here?" Sydney asked in concern as he entered Miss Parker's office. "I could hear you from down the hall."

"You couldn't hear what I was saying, could you?" Miss Parker asked worriedly, the thought that she might have jeopardised her position in The Centre making her feel uncharacteristically nervous.

"No," Sydney assured her, "but I could tell you were angry about something. What's happened?"

"I just found out that I'm the ghouls daughter," Miss Parker said as she flopped down into her chair, suddenly feeling drained. "That oxygen carrying, living zombie Raines is my biological father."

"That's preposterous!" Sydney exclaimed. "It cannot be possible! Who told you such lies?"

"I did," Broots told him, "and it isn't a lie. As I went to test to see whether Angelo or Lyle was Miss Parker's brother, I decided to make doubly certain by also testing Mr. Parker's blood. I also decided to test the main players here at The Centre as well, just to be thorough, and that's what I found out."

"Angelo is my brother, and the man I have considered to be my father all of my life is in fact my uncle," Miss Parker informed him tonelessly. "Lyle actually is his son, from an affair I guess, so instead of being my annoying brother, he's actually my annoying cousin. However, it turns out that I'm not related to you, Broots or Jarod," she went on, her eyes indicating to Sydney just how glad she was about the last one given the situation, "but, given who I am related to, I'd prefer it if I were."

"I must say that I could not ask for a better daughter than you, Parker," Sydney told her sincerely.

"And I'd rather have you for a sibling than Brian any day of the week," Broots added.

"Thank you, both of you," Miss Parker said sincerely, "but nothing is going to lift my spirits much at the moment. I need to go home, drink myself unconscious and hope that, when I wake up tomorrow, I'll have forgotten this entire conversation."

With that said, Miss Parker got out of her seat and, a little unsteadily, left her office, leaving both Sydney and Broots looking at her retreating form in concern.

"Are you absolutely sure of your findings, Broots?" Sydney asked, knowing what the answer would be, but not allowing himself to fully accept it as yet.

"I'm afraid so, Sydney," Broots told him regretfully, "by God I wish that I weren't, but I am. You have to know that I wouldn't have even mentioned it if I thought for even a moment that..."

"Calm yourself, Broots, I know you wouldn't have said anything if you weren't certain," Sydney him, "I was just hoping that you were suffering from a momentary lapse of sanity."

"No, that happened when I said I'd work for The Centre," Broots replied with a tired grin.

"That is something a great many of us have in common, my friend. I do believe, however, that the time for conversation has passed, and that we should follow Miss Parker's lead and head home for the night," Sydney continued, "as I sincerely believe that we haven't seen the extent of Miss Parker's reaction yet, and we may need to act as a... buffer, to ensure that she doesn't ruffle too many feathers, especially as she has finally begun to see the light as it were."

"Yeah, the last thing we need is for Miss Parker to try and strangle Raines with his own oxygen tube, no matter how satisfying it would be to see," Broots said as a smile touched his lips at the thought.

* * *

Miss Parker strode through the car park like a woman on a mission, her face showing a fierce determination to leave the building as quickly as was possible.

She hoped that if she escaped fast enough, she might leave behind the most recent revelations about her family within the walls of The Centre, so that she might go at least one night without them plaguing her dreams. She knew it was a false hope, and that she could never escape what she knew geographically, but at the moment a false hope was better than no hope at all, and it was all Miss Parker could do to stop herself from becoming a sobbing mess on the floor.

"Hello, Sister," said a voice in the shadows beside her car, and Miss Parker span round, pistol in hand.

"Who's there?" she demanded, having been unable to recognise the voice due to her distracted state.

Miss Parker relaxed when she saw Angelo appear from the shadows, his eyes surprisingly clear and lucid, and his smile wide and genuine. An errant thought about how he got out of The Centre flashed briefly through her mind, but she knew Angelo only really stayed where he wanted to.

"Angelo," she breathed with a sigh of relief as she lowered her weapon, looking at him as a brother for the first time.

"Sister know now," he said to her, his tone also more collected than was usual.

"Yes, Angelo," she replied, "I know now. I am so..."

"No need to say sorry, Sister," Angelo interrupted, knowing what Miss Parker was about to say. "Father and Uncle to blame; Mother and Sister never hurt Angelo, never will."

Miss Parker could argue that point, at least when it came to her, but wisely stayed silent about it.

"Mother happy Sister knows the truth," Angelo went on. "Happy that you are moving your life away from The Centre."

"That's what I'm hoping for," Miss Parker agreed, "but I can't, not yet."

"Angelo knows why; Sister need Nephew. Nephew final piece; make Sister and Jarod complete, banish the darkness from The Centre. Family, Finality."

Miss Parker's eyes widened as she recognised those words from when Angelo had held the puzzle piece. She wanted to ask him more, but he began to walk back into the shadows, and she knew enough about him to know that trying to follow him or ask him to stay would be pointless.

Before he disappeared from view, Angelo's smile widened a little more as he looked a little to her left, and as Miss Parker turned to see what he was looking at, she heard him whisper one more time, "Family, Finality."

When she saw that there was no one else there, Miss Parker turned around to find Angelo had gone. Despite his brief visit, he had helped her feel better, something she had only a couple of minutes ago thought impossible.

"Thank you, Brother," she said softly with a smile, before she got into her car and drove away.

* * *

**Xander's Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"Thanks for the blessing, Father, and give my best to Steve," Xander told the Reverend with a smile as he escorted him tot he door.

"You are more then welcome, Xander, you know that," Father Dowling replied as he adorned his hat. "Steve would have loved to join me," he went on, "but you know how she is these days once it gets dark."

Xander's smile dimmed a little at that. "Yeah, I know."

Xander remembered the night he had met Father Dowling and Sister Steve as if it were yesterday; he had been walking home from a solo patrol during Buffy's 'sabbatical', and had been passing the local church, when he'd spotted two vamps attacking a woman.

When Xander got closer, he could see that the woman was actually a nun, and was only alive because the vamps seemed to want to play with their food before they feasted. That wasn't to say that she was unscathed, as he could see that she did have a nasty looking laceration down the right side of the face, and several other wounds that were all bleeding profusely.

The two vampires were so engrossed in terrorising their prey, that they didn't notice Xander approach them until he had already got close enough to stake them both simultaneously from behind, their dusty remains blowing in the breeze a moment later.

By that time, Father Dowling had appeared from the rectory, as he had been worried that Sister Steve hadn't returned yet, and rushed over to help. Knowing that any assistance they would receive from the Sunnydale emergency services would be too late to save her, the two men carried her to the priest's station wagon and made their way to the hospital themselves, Xander doing what he could to stem the flow of blood while Father Dowling drove.

Sister Steve recovered from her traumatic ordeal, but was left disfigured by the attack. She hadn't let that stop her from continuing on in her duties at he church, but was now deathly afraid of venturing outside once the sun had gone down, which was understandable given the circumstances.

"May the Lord protect you in your endeavours this morning to send another unholy beast back to the depths of Hell," Father Dowling said to him.

"Thanks, Father," Xander replied gratefully, "I think we're going to need it."

"Hey, Father, let me walk you to your car," Faith suggested, having always had a soft spot for men of the cloth, ever since one had protected her from her father one time when she was little.

Father Dowling was initially going to politely refuse the young woman's offer, but a subtle shake of the head from Xander made him change his mind. "Thank you, my child, that is very gracious of you."

Faith smiled and then thread her arm through Father Dowling's and led him outside to his car, leaving a bemused Xander and Giles in their wake.

"She is a very complex young woman," Giles remarked.

"That's probably why she fits in so well with the rest of us," Xander replied with a grin. "Don't forget, we've only known her for a couple of days, so it isn't surprising we don't know everything about her. Once everything has died down a little, that is something we'll hopefully be able to change."

"It's only been a few days?" Giles said in surprise. "So much has happened recently, it seems like longer. Oh well," he sighed, "that's just another incentive to despatch Kakistos from the Earth."

"I think we already have plenty of reasons to kill Camel Toe," Xander said dryly, "but one more never hurts I suppose."

* * *

**Kakistos' Warehouse,  
Sunnydale, California.**

As the first rays of sunshine appeared off the horizon, Jarod put the fire truck in gear and gunned the engine, his intention to make a fire truck sized hole in the front wall of the warehouse. With a mighty crash, the vehicle careened through the front wall, rubble sent flying across the warehouse floor.

As soon as the truck was through, Buffy led the charge, her and Faith loaded for war, their primary target roaring at him minions to destroy the interlopers. Those vampires brave enough or stupid enough to get in the way of the Chosen duo met with quick ends, a far cry from the way both Slayers liked to prolong a slay a little.

While Buffy reached her destination and immediately began trading blows with the eons old vampire, Faith had been intercepted by the vampire who had beat her up a couple of days ago, Trick, and they, too, began to trade punches.

Xander was the next in and immediately jumped onto the truck and, with the assistance of his father, began to spray the oncoming vampires with the recently blessed water. Xander couldn't help but wince at the screams of agony that emitted from the vampires as they began to literally melt in front of his eyes, and it reminded him a little of the scene in Robocop where someone had been thrown into a vat of acid and what they looked like afterwards.

Giles, Willow and Oz brought up the rear, armed with the modified paintball guns and UV torches that Giles had found so effective on patrol, with their aim to keep the vampires as far away Buffy and Faith as possible so they were not distracted. The trio were also to prevent Kakistos' followers from escaping out of the hole in the wall that the fire truck had made, having decided that they would use them to send a message to the others that if any of their group were attacked, the retribution would be swift, decisive and without mercy. They didn't expect too many of the vampires to try that now that the sun moved higher into the sky, as it would be considered suicide for a vampire to even attempt it.

Xander had already set several charges in the sewers underneath the warehouse and in the surrounding area, and did so using remote control cars with cameras on to remove the risk involved in setting them personally. The only avenues of escape for the occupants of the warehouse were either swathed in daylight or set to explode.

Finally, they were to pick the vampires off one at a time when a shot presented itself. The group had the element of surprise on their side, and were using it to their advantage, but they needed every advantage they had as they were outnumbered at least three to one; it seemed that Kakistos had planned on making Sunnydale a part of his territory, and had been 'recruiting' since he had arrived in town to add to the entourage he had brought with him.

The battle, for there was no other way to describe it, was highly volatile but brief; while they had the larger number, the vampires simply had no means of defending themselves against the combination of high pressure holy water, high tech chemicals and sunlight, and soon the only vampires alive were the ones in a duel with Buffy and Faith at the far side of the warehouse.

Xander had made sure to keep the water away from the trio, not because he didn't want to burn Kakistos or Trick, but because he knew that the two Vampire Slayers needed every advantage, and fighting on a slipper floor whilst soaking wet would not be beneficial. Due to the close quarters the quartet were fighting in, the others were not able to get a clear shot of either vampire to assist them, and despite a strong urge to do so, Xander and the others held back and watched the dances of death unfurl before their eyes.

Faith and Trick were circling each other, both showing several wounds inflicted by the other. The raven haired Slayer risked a glance to see how Buffy was fairing, and Trick used her momentary lack of focus to his full advantage. He leapt forward and caught her across the abdomen, his talon like nails slicing through her skin like a hot knife through butter.

The injury brought Faith down to her knees in agony, and her hands instinctively went to her stomach to try and staunch the flow of blood, even as she knew it would be in vain. Trick again used her distraction to his advantage and backhanded her in the face, blood splattering from her nose, and her head cracked against the floor, which left her dazed for a moment.

"Faith, Faith, Faith," Trick chided as he circled the prone Slayer, "you should have known better than to try and take me on. I mean, didn't you see Passenger 57? Always bet on black."

"That movie sucked," Faith rasped out, spitting blood as she did so, "and so do you."

"Now that was original," Trick mocked. "You think that one up all by yourself?"

Faith didn't respond, as she was in too much pain to waste energy on speaking. Instead, she slowly removed a vial of EDTA Xander had given both her and Buffy in an emergency, as a compromise to them not wearing the bracers he'd made.

Neither Slayer had wanted to use them for this, as they felt it would have given them too much of an advantage, and no matter what Xander and Giles said to change their minds, they wouldn't budge on it. They had only agreed to carry the vials after Xander had almost begged them to, and could see how worried he was about them.

Now, as she felt her life slipping away from her, Faith wished they had listened to them, but at least she would have the satisfaction of taking this son of a bitch with her when she died.

Faith waited for Trick to lean in, and then with the last of her strength jabbed the vial into his right eye, which caused the vampire to rear back and scream out in agony. The liquid quickly began to flow through his system, and a few seconds later he exploded like an overfull water balloon, covering her in blood and ichor.

Faith managed to stay conscious long enough to see Trick's demise before she finally allowed the darkness to take her.

* * *

Buffy somersaulted backwards away from Kakistos as he swiped at her, and used her distance from the master vampire to check on the condition of her sister Slayer. She could see that both Jarod and Giles had rushed over to the fallen young woman, and were doing what they could to keep her alive, and while she would like nothing more than to go over and help, that would have to be enough for her at the moment, as she was trying to keep herself alive.

Kakistos looked like he would be slow and easy to defeat, but she should have realised by now that looks were deceiving. He had existed longer than Christianity, and nothing lives as long as that without learning a few things on survival. They both had several wounds, although she had to admit the ones he'd inflicted on her were worse than the ones she'd inflicted on him, and she was surprised that the ancient demon was showing no sign of slowing down.

As he watched his pitiful excuse for an opponent flip through the air, Kakistos decided to show her another thing he had learned. He travelled the distance between hem far faster than Buffy thought him capable, and was waiting to strike at the blonde the moment she landed. Buffy barely had time to put her arms up to defend herself when Kakistos caught her with a thunderous double-handed blow that sent her soaring through the air, where she crashed into, and then through, a wall.

Xander, taking advantage of the clear shot he now had, fired the hose at Kakistos, which caught him right in the chest. The spray only lasted a few seconds before it fizzled out, as the extra pressure Xander had gotten from the pump had the unfortunate downside of emptying the tank faster than anticipated. However, even those few short moments had done their damage, as while Kakistos had not been affected as badly as the other vampires that had been dowsed by the holy water cannon, his clothing had been ripped away from his chest by the force of the water, and his exposed skin was smoking and bubbling.

"You think a little water will stop the great Kakistos?" the ancient vampire growled arrogantly, although Xander noted that there was some panic in the vampire's voice. "You are nothing more than cattle to me, and certainly no match to the fury that will be wrought against you!"

Xander growled, his anger so great that words could not adequately express what he was feeling. Tossing the hose to one side, he reached to his left and pulled out custom made stake launcher from where he had stashed it on the fire truck, and aimed the weapon at the advancing Kakistos. He fired twice in quick succession, and the oversized stakes hit their target and sent the vampire back against the wall, pinned there by his shoulders as the staked embedded themselves into the wall.

"Fool!" Kakistos spat as he struggled to break free. "Are you so inept that you do not even know how to kill a vampire?!"

"Oh, I know how to kill you," Xander replied as he tossed the stake launcher to one side, "but killing you isn't in my job description."

"But it is in mine," Buffy said as she limped into view, her right arm tucked into herself, quite clearly broken, and her left holding the stake launcher Xander threw her way. "This is for everyone you have ever killed," she told him as she fired the final stake into his damaged chest and pierced his unbeating heart.

Kakistos roared one final time, a primal scream of rage and fear, before his body succumbed to the inevitable and turned to dust, although like The Master, his skeleton remained behind. A moment later, dozens of paintballs impacted against the skeleton, and the chemical cocktail within them dissolved the bones until there was nothing left. Xander and Buffy turned round to see both Willow and Oz standing there, their faces grim.

"Didn't want a repeat performance," Oz informed them, having been told by his girlfriend all about how the Master had almost been resurrected using his skeleton.

Buffy nodded her agreement before her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out, Xander intercepting her just in time to prevent her from hitting the ground.

"Buffy!" Willow cried in fear, having already seen Faith's condition and now fearing for the well being of her friend.

"She'll be fine, Wills, don't worry," Xander assured her, his tone showing none of the fear he felt. "How's Faith?" he asked after a moment as he shifted Buffy into a better position to carry her.

"Not good; Giles and your dad rushed her outside to Oz' van and drove off towards the hospital," Willow replied.

That Giles acquiesced to taking her to hospital told Xander that Faith was at death's door, and hoped that she didn't intend on opening it any time soon. "Well, we better follow them, as Buffy will need to have her arm set at the very least."

"What about all this?" Willow asked, indicating the war zone that used to be a warehouse.

Xander looked around at the carnage for a moment before he replied. "I'll contact the fire department and give them some bullshit story about joyriders messing around with a fire truck around the area, when they come and see the mess, they'll think of something to explain it away," he replied with a shrug, not all that bothered about it at the moment. "Come on," he continued as he began to make his way outside, mindful of the slippery floor, "lets get the hell out of here."

Both Oz and Willow were more than happy to comply, and the trio, plus Buffy, left the warehouse.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

**Mayor Wilkins' Office,  
Sunnydale California.**

"Good Morning, Mr. Mayor," Deputy Mayor Allen Finch said as he entered the Mayor's office.

"And what a glorious morning it is, Allen," Mayor Wilkins said with a smile as he spun in his seat. "The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and everything is right with the world. So, what is on the agenda today? I do believe there is another PTA meeting scheduled sometime this afternoon, isn't there?"

"Yes sir, at three," Finch confirmed with a nod, "but before we get into today's schedule, I have news on Kakistos."

"Oh? He hasn't gone and killed that little slip of a girl yet, has he? I thought he might have wanted to play with his food a little more," Wilkins commented.

"Actually, sir, our sources have informed us that Kakistos and his followers were all dispatched shortly after dawn this morning," Finch informed him.

"Really?" Wilkins said in surprise. "Well, that is a turn-up for the books. That, Allen, just goes to prove that you can never count out the little guy."

"Yes, sir. Our sources also told us that the Slayer and her group used tactics that they had previously shown not to know," Finch continued.

"That just shows that the youth of today are willing to try new things and expand their horizons, and I say good for them," the Mayor said with a smile, "they are the future after all."

"Of course, sir. They also had another member with them, not including the anomalous Slayer that brought Kakistos to your domain in the first place, who we have as yet been unable to identify."

"So, the infamous 'Scooby Gang' has grown larger in recent days. Again, that proves that our community is willing to help out their fellow man in times of crisis. I would suggest, however, that we start to keep a closer eye on that merry band of men and women," Wilkins suggested, his demeanour becoming more serious, "especially as my final goal is finally within sight."

"Of course, sir," Finch replied, "I shall arrange that immediately."

"Excellent. Now then, we were talking about the PTA meeting..."

* * *

**Unknown Location,  
Queens, New York.**

Lyle's eyes snapped open with a start, the sound of something heavy being dropped having brought him out of his forced slumber. He didn't recognise his immediate surroundings, which told him he was no longer in the brownstone in Albany, and as his awareness began to increase, he realised that he was lying down on a cold metal table. He could hear, and feel, a fire burning off to his right, and from the lightness of the room he figured it was now morning.

To be honest, Lyle hadn't thought he would have woken up at all given the circumstances, so he wasn't about to complain about it, but he was smart enough to know that for him to be still alive wasn't necessarily a good thing. For Mr. Swallow to have refrained from killing him before only meant one thing; the mountain of a man hadn't finished having his fun at Lyle's expense just yet, and he doubted that he would enjoy the experience very much.

"Ah," the man in question said as he walked into the room, "I was wondering when you might wake up."

Lyle tried to sit up from his horizontal position, but found that when he tried he was completely unable to do so. In fact, he found that he was completely immobile from the head down. Using what manoeuvrability he had available to him, Lyle looked down to find that, not only had he been stripped naked during his unconscious state, he had been bound securely to the table with what looked like shrink wrap, which was, unfortunately, working surprisingly well in holding him in place.

"What are you going to do with me, you sick freak?" Lyle asked with a snarl on his face, and was only able to keep the fear he was feeling bubbling up inside from showing in his voice through sheer force of will.

Lyle had dealt with fear for most of his life, either through feeling it or instilling it in others, so it no longer affected him in the same way as other people. However, knowing how helpless he was, and what the probable conclusion of Mr. Swallow's plan would be, Lyle's fear was increasing at an exponential rate, and he couldn't see any way of stopping it.

"With you? Absolutely nothing," Mr. Swallow replied. "To you? Now then, that's another story entirely. First of all, there is something that I have to do, if only for my own piece of mind. You see, I have a thing about symmetry, and you, Lyle, are not symmetrical at the moment. However, that is something I can easily fix."

Lyle only realised what Mr. Swallow was about to do moments before he did it, and was unable to hold back the blood-curdling scream that came hurtling out of him as his captor removed his remaining thumb with pinking shears he had been keeping out of sight.

"There," Mr. Swallow said with a satisfied smile, "that's better."

Mr. Swallow then walked over to the fire and removed a metal rod from the flames, the tip glowing a bright, angry red, and then placed it against the bleeding stump. Lyle immediately began to thrash around in exquisite agony as much as his bindings allowed as the red hot poker cauterised the wound, and the smell of burnt flesh soon permeated the air.

"I'm going to get you for this, you crazy sunovabitch!" Lyle screamed at the top of his lungs, even as he knew how impotent his threat was.

"My dear, dear Lyle, the only thing you are going to be getting is lighter," Mr. Swallow informed him mildly, in no way affected by the venomous vow that Lyle had made. "You see, I do love to take things apart, and while I can be quite content to spend a weekend taking a car or other such thing to pieces, nothing quite beats taking apart another person one piece at a time. Of course, unlike a car, I can't then put a person back together again, but as I rarely take apart a person I would want to put back together again, it seems to work out quite well for me."

Mr. Swallow went back to the fire and replaced the poker before returning his attention to Lyle, who looked decidedly green, either from the fresh wound or from Mr. Swallow's demeanour. "Another thing I like to do is see how long a person can hold on before the pan becomes too much for them and they allow themselves to be taken by the darkness. The best I've seen so far was this Mexican woman, Lolita her name was, who managed to survive having both legs removed at the hip before she finally succumbed."

He leant in close and whispered in Lyle's ear. "I have very high hopes that you will surpass that."

With that, Mr. Swallow stood up and began to open and close the pinking shears in his hand. Despite himself, Lyle began to be drawn in by the methodical movements of the shears, although he then began to use that to his advantage as it allowed him to block the searing pain in his hand. The trouble was that Lyle knew the pain he was now feeling was just the tip of the iceberg, and no matter how many techniques he used, it would eventually get to be too much for him.

"Now, Lyle," Mr. Swallow said, once again drawing Lyle's attention, "I have to say that I am in something of a quandary; I don't know whether to continue to remove your fingers, or to start on your toes as is my wont. So, which would you prefer?"

Lyle's response would have made even the most hardened of sailors blush.

* * *

**Wilkins Municipal Hospital,  
Sunnydale, California.**

"We spend entirely too much in hospitals," Xander stated.

"You're not the one admitted," Buffy pointed out from her hospital bed.

"True," he conceded. "It's getting to the point where I'm actually feeling a little left out that I'm so healthy."

Buffy smiled for a moment at Xander's comment before her demeanour became more sombre. "How's Faith doing?"

Xander sighed and ran his hand down his face. "It was touch and go there for a while. Dr. Ramorez was on again, so we had that on our side, and of course Dad assisted to be certain, but even then they actually lost her on the operating table for nearly a minute before getting her back. At the moment she's being classified as 'critical but stable', and just like it was with your mom, the next 24 hours are the most important."

"Do you think that means we now have a third Slayer running around somewhere?" Buffy asked.

"You never know," Xander replied with a shrug, "but then again we don't really know why it was that Kendra was Called after you had your momentary brush with the other side. It could be that the Slayer essence is linked directly with your heart, and when yours stopped it immediately went looking for another host..."

"Do you have to put it like that?" Buffy asked, butting in. "It makes it sound like one of those Ghoulie things in that show with MacGuyver in it."

"Sorry," Xander said with a unrepentant smirk. "As I was saying, it could have been that, or it could have been because of the Codex prophecy, or where you were, or a multitude of factors. I guess that, unless we actually get a visit from another Slayer, I doubt that we'll find out for some time, especially with the Council the way it is..."

"What do you mean by that?" Buffy queried, interrupting again. "Giles is cool, in a tweedy, tea drinking kinda way."

"Yeah, well, that is a conversation for another day, but lets just say that you and Faith lucked out in the Watcher stakes and leave it at that for the moment. Now then," Xander went on as he got up from his position at the foot of Buffy's hospital bed, "lets get you out of bed."

"I thought it was the goal of most guys to get us gals into bed?" Buffy said with a smile. Her smile widened when Xander lost his footing for a moment.

"Only if your IQ matches your shoe size," he replied after a moment. "It's better to make things work out so that they're trying to get you into bed, that way..."

"That way what?" Buffy asked with an edge to her voice that Xander didn't need to be a genius to figure out.

"That way, when a gentleman such as myself states that he wants to wait until it feels right, and that he wants to get to know her better, it further distances him from the testosterone-driven oafs that are out for an easy lay," Xander replied smoothly. "Now, as I was saying, I thought you'd want to check on Faith and your mom, so I brought a wheelchair for you."

"I don't need a wheelchair," Buffy informed him, her tone a little petulant. "I'm perfectly capable of walking."

"You know that, and I know that, but the good people at Wilkins Municipal Hospital, and the Chief of Medicine in particular, beg to differ," Xander replied. "Then there is the fact that, only a few hours ago, you were brought in with cracked ribs, a broken arm and a dislocated elbow. No one... normal, for want of a better word, would be walking under their own power by now, which means that you can't be seen to either, ergo you use a wheelchair."

"Ergo? You bought yourself a word of the day calendar recently?" Buffy asked in bemusement.

"No," Xander replied with a smile, "it's just that I've been trying to slowly amalgamate the Xander that everyone knows with the Xander I've kept hidden, and that includes an increased vocabulary as part of it." When he saw the look of worry that flashed across Buffy's face, Xander couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, Buff, how I express myself won't change who I am, any more than how strong and fast you are changes who you are. I'll still be the same Xander you know, I'll just sound a little different is all."

"Just don't change too much," Buffy told him, "because I'm pretty attached to the way you are now."

That had been the closest Buffy had come to stating her intent towards Xander, and they both knew it. For Buffy, it was a step in the right direction, and for Xander, it was further proof that the best things in life truly do come to those who wait. However, neither one was quite ready to take things any further than that, so Xander simply smiled and then went to retrieve the wheelchair.

"Your carriage awaits, milady," he said with a flourish and a authentic sounding English accent when he returned.

"Why thank you, good sir," Buffy replied as she bounded out of bed and into the wheelchair, which proved just how little she need to use it.

"So, who do you want to see first; Faith or your mom?" Xander asked as he began to push her down the corridor.

"Faith," Buffy replied immediately. "I want to see Mom, but I know that she's okay; I need to see for myself that Faith will be as well."

"I'll warn you, it's not a pretty sight," Xander told her.

"I'll take seeing her in a bed covered in wires over seeing her on a slab covered by a sheet any day," Buffy replied.

"I couldn't agree with you more."

* * *

**Unknown Location,  
Queens, New York.**

"AAAHHH!!" Lyle screamed in abstract agony as he felt the surgical saw in Mr. Swallow's hands bite into his flesh.

Mr. Swallow moved the old fashioned manual saw in a slow and precise fashion, which indicated that it wasn't the first time he had used the instrument. He made short work of severing Lyle's left arm at the elbow, and quickly brought over another red-hot poker to cauterise the wound.

To ensure that Lyle would survive the ordeal for longer, Mr. Swallow had hooked him up to IVs filled with saline and powerful antibiotics, but had given him nothing to numb the pain. He always stopped cutting once his victim died, as he found no joy in doing it if they didn't feel it, so he did what he could to keep them alive for as long as possible, but he did so in a way that ensured they still felt every second of it.

On top of now missing half of his left arm, Lyle was also missing his right hand and both feet, although Mr. Swallow severed all of Lyle's fingers and toes first. In another example of his intestinal fortitude, Lyle had only lost consciousness once during his ordeal, when he'd severed his left foot, but all it took to revive him was a bucket of cold water and Mr. Swallow resumed his work.

So far, Lyle had held up remarkably well, and was most definitely his best specimen to date, which Mr. Swallow put down to the mental and physical abuse Lyle had endured throughout his childhood. No matter what happened, Lyle would soon be dead, but Mr. Swallow had to take his hat off to him for his ability to withstand extreme amounts of pain. He doubted that Lyle's father would fare as well, but he also knew that he would have a lot of fun finding out.

"Now, Lyle, I have to say you're holding up remarkably well," Mr. Swallow told him as he dropped the severed forearm into a black plastic sack.

Lyle would have responded to that, but he was in too much pain to do anything but scream in agony.

"You do know, however, that you are now no longer symmetrical," he went on, "and you know how I am about symmetry, so your other arm simply must go."

The whimper that escaped Lyle's throat was music to Mr. Swallow's ears.

* * *

**Wilkins Memorial Hospital,  
Sunnydale, California.**

After having gone to see Faith, who had looked nothing like the confident young women she was lying deathly still on the hospital bed, with the only sounds coming from the machines helping her breathe and checking her vitals, Xander had wheeled Buffy over to her mom's room and sat with her for a while before he finally made his way to see his dad in his office.

When he got to his office, Xander could see a large shape on the couch and, opening the door as quietly as possible, went inside and found that Jarod was fast asleep. Knowing that he had definitely been burning the candle at both ends the past couple of days, Xander went over and covered Jarod with his jacket and then went to leave again. When he reached the door, Jarod's cell phone started to ring and, not wanting his dad to wake up, Xander picked it up and answered it.

"Hello, Jarod's phone," Xander said in way of greeting.

"Who's this?" an older male voice asked on the other line. "And why do you have Jarod's phone?"

"To answer in order; none of your business, and because he's asleep," Xander replied softly but with a hint of steel in his voice, as he was irked at the way the other man had spoken to him. "So, who is this?"

"My name is Sydney," the man replied, his tone suspicious. "Why is Jarod asleep?"

"Because he was tired?" Xander replied in a 'duh?' tone of voice. "You know, for a psychologist, you're not very smart are you," he added without thinking.

"How do you know my profession? Who are you?" Sydney demanded.

"Look," Xander said with a wince as he realised his mistake, "right now it doesn't matter who I am or how I know what I know. For you to ring Jarod means that something is seriously wrong, at least in your opinion at any rate, so what's the problem?"

"No offence, but I have no idea who you are, so why should I tell you anything?" Sydney asked, his tone challenging.

"You don't have to tell me a damn thing if you don't want to, but I am not waking Jarod up without a really good reason why," Xander told him, his tone hardening as he spoke. "Just so you know, the fact that one of the people that kept him prisoner for most of his life is on the phone and wants some help doesn't qualify as a good reason in my book, so I see no reason why I should."

"I can understand your anger," Sydney said, his tone changing to one of chagrin at the not so subtle reminder of his part in Jarod's captivity, "but there were reasons..."

"I don't care about your reasons for doing what you did," Xander hissed, cutting in, "that's something you'll have to take up one day with the big man upstairs before he sends you to the big man downstairs. Either tell me what's going on, or this conversation is over."

"Xander," Jarod said a little groggily as he sat up, "who are you speaking to?"

"I'm speaking to one Dr. Sydney Green," he replied, "who seems to think he has some right to speak to you."

"Please pass the phone to Jarod," Sydney requested as he heard his former charge's voice.

"I'll speak to him, Xander," Jarod told him, knowing that Sydney wouldn't have initiated contact unless something big had happened. He could understand Xander's animosity towards Sydney, as he himself felt the same on many an occasion, but for better or worse Sydney was as much a part of his family as Xander himself, and he could not turn him away.

"Alright," Xander replied reluctantly to both requests, "but before I pass him over, I'm only going to tell you this once; if you try and pull something, or if Jarod gets hurt by what you're about to tell him, I swear that I will return it ten-fold to everyone you hold dear."

"Xander," Jarod said in shock.

Xander put a hand up to his dad and Jarod wisely took the hint and stayed quiet. "Do you understand me, Dr. Green?"

"I understand," Sydney replied, his tone indicating that he knew just how serious Xander was about that.

For Jarod to have told this person as much as he had about his life before his escape from The Centre meant that he trusted him a great deal, and from the threat he had just received, this man thought a great deal of Jarod as well.

"Here's your phone," Xander said as he tossed the cell to Jarod. "I'll see you later."

Before Jarod had a chance to say anything, Xander left his office and shut the door behind him.

"Hello Sydney," Jarod greeted with a sigh.

"Jarod, who was that man?" Sydney asked after a moment, his curiosity making it impossible for him not to.

"Someone you should take very seriously, Sydney," Jarod replied, not willing to to answer the question fully just yet, "because I guarantee you he would make good on his statement, no matter the cost to himself."

That Jarod said statement instead of threat was very telling, and Sydney made a mental note to take Jarod's advice. "I am sorry for calling, but there have been some developments the last 24 hours, and I fear for Miss Parker's mental state."

"What happened, Sydney?" Jarod asked immediately, his senses springing to full alertness.

"Miss Parker decided to take your advice and check to see whether Lyle was indeed her brother," Sydney explained, "and it is fair to say that she found out more than she expected, due to Broots going above and beyond in his testing."

"What do you mean?"

"It turns out that Mr. Parker is not Miss Parker's father; Raines is."

"What! That's preposterous!" Jarod shouted.

"My sentiments exactly," Sydney said dryly, "but Broots did the tests twice to be certain, and you know that he would not have made a mistake concerning something so important."

"Of course not, but Raines?" Jarod said, his tone incredulous. "How did that happen? I can't see Catherine Parker procreating with that monster, no matter what the circumstances."

"Neither can I," Sydney replied, his tone indicating how revolted he was at the mere thought of it, "but we both know that, when it comes to The Centre, anything is possible. In any case, Raines and Mr. Parker are actually brothers, and while Lyle is Mr. Parker's son, Miss Parker is not his daughter. As you can imagine, she didn't take the news too well, and she hasn't come into work this morning. Also, Lyle seems to be missing, along with Mr. Swallow..."

"Wait, who is Mr. Swallow?" Jarod asked.

"That, Jarod, is a long story best told another time. I am really worried about Miss Parker, and I feel that you may well be the only one who can get through to her."

"Sydney, now is not the best time for me to leave where I am and return to Delaware," Jarod told him, and knew how much of an understatement that was.

"I am aware of that, nor do I think there will ever be a good time given the circumstances," Sydney said, "but I do feel that your presence is not only required, but needed."

"I will have to think about it, Sydney."

"Jarod..."

"No, Sydney, none of your guilt trips," Jarod said interrupting his childhood mentor a bit more harshly than he had intended. "I said I will think about it, and I will, but I am not at the beck and call of you, or Miss Parker, no matter what our history is."

"Very well," Sydney replied with a sigh, his tone indicating that he was disappointed with Jarod's response, "but I sincerely hope that you do not think about it too long, as you might be too late."

* * *

**Unknown Location,  
Queens, New York.**

Mr. Swallow looked down sadly at the lifeless remains of Lyle, disappointed that he hadn't held out a little longer. That wasn't to say he hadn't outlasted Lolita, because he had, but Mr. Swallow had never been able to reach the point where he could actually decapitate a specimen, and he'd hoped that Lyle would have provided him with the opportunity.

However, Mr. Swallow had to give credit where credit was due, as Lyle had provided him with a lot of entertainment. He had completely severed both of Lyle's arms and legs, and it had only been when he had cut off his genitalia that Lyle had finally succumbed to the pain. In all honestly, Mr. Swallow was in awe with Lyle's resiliency, and doubted if he would have been able to survive as long, but then again he never intended to be in a position where he could find out.

With a sigh of disappointment, he went over to a nearby sink and briskly cleaned himself off and then took his cell out of his pocket and called the only number stored.

"Hello," a male voice answered.

"Hello, sir," Mr. Swallow said in way of greeting.

"Brian, I've already told you to call me Hamilton, haven't I?"

"Yes, si... Hamilton, sorry. I was just calling to update you on the situation at The Centre. We overestimated their patience it seems, as they have already tried to kill me."

"I must say I'm not surprised," Hamilton said. "I take it that they didn't succeed?"

"No, sir, I mean, Hamilton; the protection spell you had cast on me worked perfectly, thank you."

"Excellent news, and you are of course welcome. So, who was it that made the attempt?" Hamilton asked.

"It was Lyle," Mr. Swallow replied. "As per our agreement, I took that as a hostile act towards me and began Stage Two. I know that it is ahead of schedule, but..."

"No need to worry yourself, Brian, you're not in any trouble," Hamilton told him when he noted the panic in Mr. Swallow's voice. "In fact, I would have been disappointed if you had let him live. Will there be any way to link you to his death?"

"No, none at all," Mr. Swallow replied, lying. He knew that his brother would easily figure out who had been the one to kill Lyle, but didn't have any worries about Broots saying anything, at least not publicly.

"That's good to know, as I would hate to put a reprimand in your file," Hamilton warned him.

Mr. Swallow shivered slightly as he thought of what that might mean for him.

"Do not go after anyone else for the time being, as that would most certainly cast suspicion on you, but you have my authorisation to fully initiate Stage Two of the plan," Hamilton continued. "The Triumvirate have been at our heels for too long, and removing the foothold they have in the Northern Hemisphere due to The Centre will go along way to rectifying that. Anyway, I shall leave things in your capable hands, and we shall speak again when you check in again."

Before Mr. Swallow had a chance to reply, a click indicated that Hamilton had ended the call.


End file.
